The Garden Life
by Ash Phoenix
Summary: One Garden. Issues arise in the most unlikely of situations. But then again, life never was that simple, right? Various pairings included. CHAPTER 10 IS UP!
1. Chapter 1

-1Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the FFVIII characters, but I DO own the plot and Jamie Kramer, my OC.

Summary: One Garden. Many complications occur and difficulties arise, but life was never really that simple, was it? Various pairings contained. My take on the characters living a 'normal' life.

Jamie was standing atop the balcony, considering her thoughts on her friends' recent annihilation on Sorceress Ultimecia, the dangerous sorceress that had come from the future.

_I'm so glad that she's gone now, but if only I had been there too, _the sorceress thought to herself. She had obviously gotten her powers from her mother, Sorceress Edea Kramer. Jamie had her powers from birth, and has been able to steadily control it as she was growing up.

She had been watching Squall and Rinoa, who were standing close by in the balcony, Squall's arm around Rinoa's waist, and Jamie had instantly felt a pang of envy. Not only were those two the 'Garden couple of the year', as Selphie so lamely put it, but Jamie had wished that she was by Squall's side, not Rinoa. Yes, being a stubborn girl, she would never admit that she was _jealous _of Rinoa, but she had always hated her.

Jamie was so wrapped up in her own thoughts about the two, that she hadn't heard the 2nd floor balcony door slide open, and was instantly released out of her 'thought world' when a rough, but soothing voice worriedly asked "Jamie, you okay?"

Seifer Almasy had always been, and always will be, Jamie thought, Squall's biggest rival, and she wasn't surprised that he was also looking at the Commander and his girlfriend with equal distaste.

Jamie smiled at him, and nodded her head. "Don't worry Seifer, I'm fine", she said. Seifer was the guy that she felt she trusted most, and was sort of like an older brother to her. "I was just thinking…"

"About him?" Seifer had instantly said. Seifer was aware of the love that Jamie felt for Squall, in a way, it was kind of obvious to him. _Ohh, feeling jealous now? _A snide voice in his head remarked.

_You wish, _was the reply.

Luckily, Jamie's voice had brought him back to Gaia, and saved him from thinking that he was a total nutcase for having a war inside his own head.

"No way, Seifer. I've already told you, I am definitely over him", Jamie said, but didn't feel totally convinced.

At that point, Seifer felt his temper rise, and before he knew it, his tone became more harsher and his words were spat out like venom.

"'Definitely over him'? Oh, give me a break, Jamie! I know you too well, and I've seen the way that you look at him, it's pathetic! Squall's with Rinoa now, so why don't you live with that fact, and just move on?!" He had practically yelled to her, shocking her beyond belief. But before she had time to shout something back at him, he had gone back inside, his trench coat flapping behind him as the breeze slightly lifted it up from the ground.

Tears threatening to spill out from her turquoise eyes, Jamie hastily blinked them back, and leaned back against the wall, her expression distant from what was happening, whilst her mind registered everything that Seifer had said.

Quistis had gotten sick of marking and grading papers all the time, so she had decided to go down to the Quad, to take in some fresh air. _Aah, at least this is a nice change, much better than being stuck in my classroom, grading students' papers._ She thought to herself, happily.

Cid had, willingly, given Quistis back her Instructor's Licence, and she had happily accepted it back. After the whole fiasco regarding Ultimecia and the 'Fated Children', as they were now referred as, Cid felt that this was the best thing to do for Quistis, as she did put all her time and work into organising lessons and helping students.

She had taken a few steps forward, when she heard someone shout "Quisty!" Upon turning round, Quistis found the owner of that voice running towards her.

Zell Dincht.

She had heard some troubling rumours as of late, and they troubled her because she was in the centre of it all. The rumours were focussed around a certain blonde haired martial artist and another blonde, and instructor.

In other words, some students had believed that her and Zell were having a _relationship._

The thought had made her laugh, as she had not given off any signs that her and Zell were going out, and wanted to question Zell about it. Trouble is, that he began to act very strangely. Sometimes, he would turn slightly red when Quistis mentioned the rumours, and sometimes, he would also stutter.

And if there was one thing that she definitely knew about Zell, apart from the fact that he was more than obsessed with hotdogs, it was that he never, _ever_ stutters.

But as much as that troubled her, she was relieved to see Zell. She just felt like she needed someone to talk to.

"Oh, hi Zell", Quistis said, when he stayed in step beside her as they began to walk through the Quad. "Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, everything's fine with me", Zell answered, with his trademark grin in place, "I was just walking around, but then I saw you, so I decided to come. Bored of marking papers?"

The blue-eyed instructor smiled. "Trust me, Zell. If you were stuck in a classroom marking papers all day, you would get more than bored".

Zell nodded, smiling. "Actually Quisty, I would _never _stay stuck in a classroom, by myself, with nothing but some paperwork to accompany me. I mean, that is so not….me, you know?"

Quistis smiled slightly when she pictured Zell in a classroom. She had already learnt that certain fiends had their own adaptations, and Zell's adaptation had nothing to do with a classroom.

She smiled and decided to talk to him about the rumours.

_I mean, they are focussed on the two of us, so who better to talk to it about than him? _The blonde thought to herself. "Well, I heard some…troubling rumours lately, about the two of us?" She said uneasily, wondering if he was going to do what she thought he was.

And…he did.

Not surprised by this, but equally puzzled, Quistis registered the faint tinge of red that appeared in his cheeks, and heard him reply. "What rumours? I haven't heard no rumours! But I don't like rumours, so maybe that's why I haven't heard of them", he began to ramble.

But before Quistis could elaborate on the point that she was trying to make, Zell had waved farewell, and rushed out of the Quad, as if the place was going to explode in a couple of seconds' time.

So Quistis did nothing but just stand there in shock, and wonder why Zell was acting most peculiarly.

After clearing her head a bit, Jamie had left for the 1st floor. _Maybe a walk around the Garden would do me some good. _The brunette beauty thought to herself.

After exiting the elevator as it had reached her destination, Jamie had decided to ponder on her next destination, but she heard a familiar voice shout "Jamie! There you are!"

Jamie had smiled, as Selphie was one of her closest friends, and if she needed to tell someone something, Selphie was the girl on top of her list. But from the expression on Selphie's face, Jamie judged that she was in a hurry, and didn't have time to listen to other people's problems.

As soon as Selphie was in arm-range of Jamie, she immediately went into 'Talk-a-lot' mode. "Jamie, thank goodness you're here. I've been looking for you everywhere! I need to organise the Garden Festival because I want to do a special on Squall and Rinoa's relationship success. Well, I was in the storage room, and I saw all this heavy machinery and stuff. And I need someone really strong to help me set up. Can you help me, J? Pretty please?" Selphie had rambled, and began batting her eyelashes at the last statement.

Jamie had smiled all throughout Selphie's presentation. Something about her always made Jamie see everything in a positive light. But sadly, she had to reject Selphie's offer.

"Sorry Selph. In case you haven't realised, I'm not exactly the strongest person, am I?" Jamie informed. "I guess you'd better find one of the guys".

Selphie pouted slightly. "Well, I don't know where any one of the guys are. I haven't seen Irvine all day, and I doubt that Zell is a macho man. And as for Squall….He'd rather feed me to a Tonberry than help me", she had frowned slightly, but then saw a shadow of a trench coat sweep out of sight. Almost out of instinct, Selphie squealed "Seifer!" and had ran into the dorms, where he was heading.

Jamie frowned slightly when she had heard Seifer's name, and had barely acknowledged Selphie's wave of farewell as she had left. _I'd better go somewhere else. _The brunette thought to herself. _The last thing that I need on my mind is another conversation with Seifer._

With that in mind, Jamie had left for the 2nd floor.

Seifer was just going to go to his dorm room, when a squealing "Seifer!" had made him turn around and see Selphie running towards him.

_Oh Hyne, this is just what I need. _He thought to himself, his eyes seething with anger. _A nice, little chat with Messenger Girl over tea parties and cuddly teddy bears._

Selphie was positively beaming at him, and placed her hands behind her back, clasping them. "Seifer, I need your help. I've got some _reeeaaallllyyy _heavy machinery that I need you to take to the Quad, so that I can organise the Garden Festival. Will you do it for me?"

Seifer had mentally scoffed at the fact that she was asking _him _for help, of all people. But he knew that her nagging would only get worse if he had rejected, and so he did the most sane thing that he could do.

He nodded.

He managed a small smile, when he saw Selphie jump up and down due to pure excitement, and asked "You want me to go there right now?"

Selphie nodded her head, her hair bouncing wildly. "Yep, I'm coming with you, so I can help you and show you where I want everything". She had smiled.

Then as abruptly as it came, Selphie had literally pounced on him. "Thank you soooooo much, Seif!"

Seifer was shocked at the fact that Selphie was literally hugging him, and she was certainly stronger than she looked. "Hey, it's fine", Seifer said indifferently. "We'd better go now, the sooner we do this, the better".

Selphie broke the embrace, and briefly nodded. "Yep, you're right, Seif. Let's go right now", she said, and before Seifer had any more time to protest, Selphie had led him to the elevator, as they headed for their destination.

Jamie had logged into her 'account', for lack of better words, so that she could check her mail and finish off some outstanding tests. Being the Headmaster's daughter meant that she didn't often get into trouble much, but she couldn't resist entering an empty, unlocked classroom, and hopefully keep her mind off Seifer and Squall.

_Hmm, looks like I've got no new mail, _Jamie thought to herself, as she was scrolling down her inbox. Her eye was then caught by an incoming message. The sender was confirmed to be Irvine.

_Irvine…But why would he send me a message? He's normally busy around Selphie, _the brunette pondered, but thought better to herself, and opened up the message.

It read:

_Hey Jamie, I've seen you around the Garden, and your beautiful face is always shaped in a frown. What's keeping you so down, girl?_

_Well, whatever it is, you can talk to me, babe. I'll be here for you. I sent you this message from my dorm, and I want to speak to you in private, if you're free._

_Come to my dorm, the door's unlocked. It's room number 105. Come alone._

_Irvine_

Jamie read the message and then logged off her computer, shutting down her computer. _That's weird, but he's a friend, right? And he cares…._ Jamie thought to herself, and exited the classroom.

However, as soon as she had exited, she had nearly bumped into Selphie. Cursing herself mentally, she wasn't really listening to Selphie's apologies, as she had seen who was behind the petite brunette.

Seifer.

Without making eye contact with him, Jamie had hastily apologized to Selphie and proceeded to walk towards the elevator, when a firm grip on her wrist stopped her. Looking back, she had discovered that Seifer's hand was firmly gripped around her slim wrist.

Eyes narrowed slightly at the intimate contact between the two, Jamie ha turned around until she was facing Seifer. Selphie had already unlocked the door to the 'storage room', and entered it.

Seifer's brisk voice had filled the empty air that had suspended at the silence that had occurred between the two of them. "Listen, Jamie, I need to talk to you", he said, hoping to communicate his feelings for her.

Jamie looked at him and had her emotionless mask plastered on her face. "Look, I can't talk to you right now, and I'm not prepared to listen to anything that you have got to say. A real friend needs me right now, alright?" She had said, anger threatening to spill out from every syllable that she had spat out.

Before he could say anything else, Jamie had walked towards the elevator and entered inside, just as it was about to close.

Cursing his luck, Seifer walked back into the storage room, and began to help Selphie, whilst reminiscing the mere fact that Jamie was riled at him.

Jamie was walking across the dormitory corridor, all the while looking for room 105. _He said it was urgent. I hope he's okay….._Jamie began to worry for her friend, and had found the door number. With two knocks, she had entered the room, remembering that the door was unlocked.

Her heart had instantly torn in two at that point, as she saw Irvine leaning against the wall, alcohol bottle in hand.

His expression was pretty sombre, but he managed to smile, and said, "Hey, Jamie. Glad you could come".

Jamie had looked from the bottle to his expression, and had instantly grabbed the bottle. "Look Irvine, I'm not going to allow you to keep drinking, okay? I care about your health", she said, feeling curious as to why he was drinking in the first place.

Irvine flashed a smile at her. "Wow, you care. I thought that my life was down in the dumps", he said. Jamie was regarding his expression, he had a flirtatious smile on his face. _He's obviously been drinking way outta his league. _She thought to herself.

Putting the bottle on his bedside table, she asked him, "So, Irvine? Why exactly have you been drinking?"

Irvine looked at her in the eyes, and simply replied, "Because of you". After that, his mind slipped off into unconsciousness, and he was about to collapse on the ground, but Jamie had caught him, and directed him to the nearest bed.

_Because of….me? Irvine Kinneas, you are so totally wasted. _Jamie thought to herself, and decided to let him rest. So, she made her way into the kitchen, all the while thinking about what he said.

_Boys sure know how to play with my mind._

Author's Note: Well, this is my attempt on a 'soap opera' focussed on different issues on the FFVIII gang's lives. If you like, review please.

That's it from me.

Ciao, amigos!


	2. Chapter 2

-1Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII or the characters. But I am proud to announce that I own Jamie Kramer, and the plot for this story.

Author's note: Firstly, I would like to thank my two reviewers, Selphie Ivy and Leontwilight. Your reviews really made my day. And I will try to include some triangles, such as SeiferxJamiexIrvine.

And without further ado, on with the show!

Jamie had decided to make Irvine a cup of coffee, so that it could ease him after all that drinking. She had opened the door to his room and registered him sitting up on the bed.

Irvine was going to say something, but Jamie spoke first. "You were out for quite a while, so I thought that I should stay here with you."

Irvine smiled at her and said "Thanks" in response, after taking the coffee from Jamie's hand. He began to sip a bit from the cup, but the liquid had burned his tongue. Inhaling a sharp breath, he set the cup on his bedside table. "It's too hot", he said, in response to Jamie's questioning look.

Jamie smiled slightly and sat down at the edge of Irvine's bed. After a slight pause, she said "I was worried about you Irvine. I mean, it's not like you to drink this much".

Irvine smiled at her and replied "I guess I was drinking because I was just thinking too much, that's all", and he reclaimed the cup of coffee from the bedside table and begun to blow and sip the substance inside.

Jamie had then remembered the message in her Inbox, and the actual reason that she had come to see Irvine in the first place. "Well, you wanted to talk to me alone about something, right? And it sounded urgent." She said, her mind racing with possibilities of what he might want to say.

But the answer was not what she had expected.

"I wanted to talk to you, to tell you…..that I'm leaving."

Squall felt as if his head was going to explode with all the paperwork that was set out in front of him. Day after day, ever since he had become the Commander of Garden, he felt that everyone else was planning to pressurize him with more and more paperwork. What had previously started out as a few sheets and forms had been transformed into a mountain of papers, and he got frustrated at the fact that he had suffered the wrath of the 'paper cuts'.

Just then, a pair of arms and found their way around his waist, and Rinoa's head lay on his shoulder. With a smile, she addressed him. "Hey Squall, still crouched in here?"

Squall smiled back at her, and replied. "Well, I have to sort this out someday. And as they say 'Better sooner than later'. Besides, this is pretty important".

He thought that he saw her expression darken slightly, but it was gone. "Well, if you've got any free time, maybe you could meet me at the cafeteria?" She asked, wanting him to realise that she loved him a lot.

With a nod, Squall looked back at all the paperwork that he had to sort out, whilst he felt Rinoa's comforting arms unwrap from his waist, and his shoulder felt slightly lighter without the weight of Rinoa's head. With no more than a 'Bye, Squall', the brunette commander heard the door close, and instantly began to rub his forehead. He didn't know what was bothering him more at the moment, the amount of paperwork that he needed to sort out, or the fact that Rinoa really wanted to keep a relationship with him. Sure, he loved her, but with everything else happening, her persistent nature was **slightly** beginning to annoy him.

_No use dwelling on that now._ Squall thought to himself, and instead focussed on the papers. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to meet Rinoa at the cafeteria today.

"Irvine, you can't think about going to Galbadia Garden, not after everything that's happened!", Jamie began, shocked at what Irvine had told her. He was going to transfer back to Galbadia Garden, as Martine had sent him a letter and Irvine had accepted.

Irvine smiled sadly and replied "I know, but I just felt….like everyone else was leaving me out". After seeing the confused look on Jamie's face, he continued. "I know that Squall and Seifer don't exactly approve of me, because of my…flirtatious nature and all, and Zell and me don't talk much anyway. All I'm trying to say is…Jamie, you're the only reason why I'm still here in the first place".

Jamie's look hardened slightly, and she instantly countered "But what about everything in the orphanage? All those memories of all of us together? Doesn't the fact that we're all together now make you want to stay? Please Irvy, you can't just leave us all, just when we all got together again", she almost pleaded, and her eyes had begun to water.

He didn't know whether it was the fact that Jamie had used his nickname, or that she was literally begging him to stay but his expression softened and he said, "Alright. I'll email Martine and tell him that I forfeit that decision". He beamed when he saw a smile slide back onto Jamie's fair face and his expression was instantly turned into one of surprise, as she unmistakably pounced on him, with her arms around his neck, engulfing him in a hug.

The smile reappeared back on the sniper's face, as his comforting arms found their way onto Jamie's back, keeping himself, and her, in that embrace.

Rinoa was walking out of the classroom that Squall was currently occupied in. Upon entering the elevator, she had realised that there was another person already in there, Zell.

Rinoa smiled before addressing him. "Oh, hi Zell. Where are you heading off to?" She asked politely. Zell looked pretty troubled, and Rinoa felt quite curious to his quietness since she had entered the elevator.

Zell grinned back at her. "Hey Rin. I was gonna head off to the café, see if there are any more hotdogs left", he replied, acting more like his normal self. "So what about you? I thought that you were gonna stay with Squall, who's up in a classroom".

Rinoa frowned slightly at the mention of Squall's name, but recovered. "Oh, actually he's busy doing some paperwork", she explained darkly.

One look at Rinoa's face told Zell that she wasn't in the mood to talk about her boyfriend, and he let out an "Oh" of confirmation that the conversation had ended. They stood there in silence for a while, and they were both equally pleased that the elevator had decided to 'Ding' at that point. After all, uncomfortable silences were, well…..uncomfortable.

Zell had just taken a few steps forward after departing from the elevator, when Rinoa had stopped him with her voice. "Zell…..am I too pushy?" She had suddenly asked, and Zell's eyes went wide with surprise.

Looking back, Zell instantly replied "Uhh, no Rin, I don't think you're pushy, just….uhh, energetic". Zell had always liked Rinoa as a friend, but he had never thought that she would be Squall's 'ideal' girlfriend. But even still, after she had asked him, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for Rinoa. After all, he didn't think Squall was treating her right.

Rinoa smiled back at Zell, and asked "Do you really mean that, Zell? You're not just saying that because you feel sorry for me, are you?" If there was one thing that she hated, it was pity. Pity made her feel weak, especially after the whole Adel situation.

Zell instantaneously shook his head. "No, of course not, Rin. I seriously mean that from the heart, you know. You've always been a really good friend to me, and there is no way that I will lie to you", he said, hoping that she didn't laugh at him for being such an honest creep. Exactly the opposite of the other guys. Or so he thought.

Rinoa smiled at his sweetness, and weighed out the next words that she said. "Uhm, Zell? Would you like to come with me to the cafeteria? It's just that I wanted Squall to come with me, but since he's so **busy, **I thought you should come with me instead". She smiled at the look on Zell's face, which signalled that he wanted to go with her.

With Squall temporarily out of her mind, her and Zell set off for the cafeteria.

"Tada!" Selphie exclaimed, as soon as she and Seifer had added some of the finishing touches. Turning towards her partner, she asked "Well? What do you think, Seifer?"

Seifer couldn't help but smile at the result of the duo's hard work. "Yeah, it's good. You planning to throw a party or sumthin?" He asked, and saw Selphie positively shine with glee.

"Yeah! That's a great idea, Seif! This could be, like, the 'Welcoming Back of the Garden Festival' Party! It'll be great!" Selphie positively exclaimed. The Garden Festival Committee, or GFC, had recently been put on hold, and Selphie did all the best to revive the liveliness. And incidentally, she had thought of the perfect reunion party but tended to focus more on the 'Guests of Honour', Squall and Rinoa.

Seifer smiled at her. "So, you planning on hosting it today, or what?" He didn't exactly want to tell Selphie, but he wanted this party to be an opportunity for him to tell Jamie how he felt about her. They hadn't really talked after the time that Seifer and Jamie had their disagreement in the 2nd floor, and he kept frowning every time he thought about the 'real friend' who had needed Jamie so much that she walked out on him.

Selphie shook her curly head. "Nope, I don't think there's enough time now, and I want as many people as possible there. I think that we should host it tomorrow, and I'll start on the posters as soon as I reach my dorm room. Any objections?"

Seifer smirked slightly and mock-saluted her. "No, ma'am. Absolutely no objections at all", and smiled at the mock-pout he received from Selphie. "If you want, I'll help you make the posters. That way, the work will be done quicker, and more cadets will be aware of the party", he explained.

Selphie smiled up at him. "If you say so Seif. Okay then, the party will start tomorrow, and we'll head to my dorm now, where we'll work on the posters. Well then, Balamb Garden, prepare to be dazzled by the Selphie Tilmitt Rockin' Ya Socks Off Party!"

Author's Note: I'm sorry if this chapter was not up to your standards, Mr. or Ms. Reader, but I have been suffering from the dreaded 'Writer's Block' disease!

But do not fret, I'll be back in no time….hopefully.

Ciao, amigos!


	3. Chapter 3

-1Disclaimer: Jamie and Gabby, mine. FFVIII characters and locations, Squaresoft's. Songs belong to their respective singers.

Author's Note: Once again, I thank you for the reviews. My 'Writer's Block' disease seems to have evaporated, so for now, I hereby introduce….The Garden Life: Chapter 3!

Selphie had hung up all the posters, regarding the party that she was to put on today, in lightning speed. In doing so, she wanted everyone, especially all of her friends, to know about the party and to take time off and attend it. Firstly, she dwelled on Squall and Quistis.

Those two were the ones that mostly acted as any second not focussed on paperwork and such was a second wasted, and Selphie planned to put all her heart and soul into preparing this party, as she wanted the best for all of her friends.

With that in mind, she decided to wait for the students to appear.

After a persuasive argument with her father, Jamie was finally allowed to go out to Balamb. She had told him that she wanted to get a new outfit from there, but had actually decided to leave for Balamb, as she wanted to relax for a while. The Garden was making her feel pretty stressed out, but for what reason, the brunette didn't know.

She was just turning the corner when she saw a little boy huddled in that same corner, back against the wall. Jamie approached the boy and kindly said "Hello. What are you doing here all by yourself?" Inspecting his appearance, Jamie felt as if he had been staying around alleyways for a long time. Strands of his matted blonde hair just ran past his eyes, which shone emarald green, and his baggy top and jeans looked almost trampled on. His trainers were slowly losing their soles.

The boy's eyes showed panic as he turned around to face Jamie, but he calmed down slightly and replied "I always sit here, I have nowhere else to go", and his voice was so sweet, that Jamie had to smile at him. After Jamie asked for his name, he simply responded "Gabriel".

Jamie then understood that he was an orphan, all by himself in Balamb, and a stab of pity instantly hit her heart. "Tell you what Gabriel, you can come to Garden and stay with me. I'll sort out all the paperwork and stuff, and you can stay in Garden. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends there", She informed the boy. "So, you wanna come?"

Gabriel seemed slightly reluctant at the offer, but since he didn't have anywhere else to stay, there wasn't exactly a 'pull factor' that was pulling him back to Balamb. With a nod, he stood up. Then hand in hand, the duo set off back to Garden.

"I hope this will be okay to wear at the party", Rinoa anxiously wondered. Being back in her dorm room, she was pondering what outfit she should wear for the party. Sure, she wanted to look her best, but she wanted to wear something that would instantly catch Squall's attention. But now she was having second thoughts about what she should wear.

For the outfit she had chosen now consisted of a sleeveless black top which exposed some of her mid-body, and a light blue mini skirt with a silver belt. To complete the look, she was going to wear black boots that reached up to her knees. _Great, now Squall's going to think that I'm sort of a model, and all the other guys there might start to eye me up, _the raven haired sorceress thought to herself.

Just when she was finally going to do away with the outfit, a wolf-whistle could be heard, and a voice remarked "Wow, I never knew you had it in you, Rinoa". Seifer entered the dormitory wearing his usual attire, minus his trademark trench coat. A blush crept up Rinoa's cheeks, as she questioned him.

"Seifer? Wh-What are you doing here?"

Seifer smirked and walked closer to where Rinoa was standing. "Well, I had just figured out something that I could use your help with", he said. "You know about the party, right? Well, I've been planning to get Jamie onto me, and I'm guessing that you want Squall to notice you too, right?" He smirked, a knowing glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, but how did you-?"

"Rinoa, you can't think that I never noticed. It's so obvious", Seifer informed her. "Well, I have a way to get their attention", he smirked at Rinoa, and sensing an Almasy master plan, Rinoa smirked too.

_Boy, Seifer. Am I glad that I met you._

As soon as Quistis had entered the Quad, she could already hear the chatter of the cadets and the poor attempt of someone trying to sing Robbie Williams' 'Let Me Entertain You' note-perfect.

She was in two minds about whether or not she should come to the party, but after some careful consideration for her friends, and how much work Selphie had done decorating the place, Quistis made her mind up and came to the party.

Selphie ran up to Quistis and embraced her in a hug, which Quistis returned. "Hey, Selphie. This looks like a nice party. You do this all _yourself_?" Quistis wondered, the embrace now broken.

Selphie proudly smiled at her and responded, "Nope, Seifer helped me too. And speaking of Seifer, I was hoping he'd be here by now…." Selphie worriedly peered around the Quad, and then shrugged. "Oh well, guess someone else could start off the karaoke then", Selphie said, and waved Quistis farewell, as she had seen two junior classmen mucking around with the wires connected to the karaoke machine, and was planning to give them a piece of her mind.

With a smile, Quistis waved back to her, and felt thirsty all of a sudden. Regretting not asking Selphie where the drinks were, the blonde instructor set off for someone who she recognised, a someone with blonde spiky hair.

Seifer entered the Quad and was looking around for any sign of Jamie here. Without her here, the plan would be useless and all that would have been for nothing. Giving up searching for her, he strode over to where he saw Rinoa standing.

"You remember what to do, right?" He asked her, and she replied with a simple nod. "Good. Let's just wait for those two to come then…"

Just as if on cue, Squall had appeared through the doors, followed by a couple of professional looking people in business suits. With a smirk, Seifer turned back to Rinoa.

"Alright Rin. You keep your back to him, and we'll just pretend that we're having a private conversation or something, alright?" He told her, hoping that this would get both Squall and Jamie running for them.

Squall was nodding at the business man that was talking in front of him, but wasn't really listening that much. Managing this business lark was stressful, and truthfully, he **absolutely **couldn't stand it. But someone's raven hair caught his attention.

When he turned in that direction after the man had quit talking to him, he saw Seifer talking to a lady figure that was undoubtedly Rinoa. But his eyes steered away from the back of her head and they took in her appearance. Squall felt really angry that she would even wear something like **that** in a party, let alone in public. But a part of his mind did have to admit that it showed off her figure nicely.

He narrowed his eyes slightly at the lack of physical contact space that there was between Seifer and Rinoa, as Seifer whispered something in her ear, which made Rinoa smile and walk away. Squall continued to frown, but a tap on his shoulder broke up the fragments of what he was thinking about. After looking back, he realised that it was Quistis.

"Hey Squall. Are you enjoying the party?" Quistis enquired, and when Squall merely shrugged, she nodded her head in understanding. "I kind of know what you mean. The only **really **entertaining thing is the cadets when they're trying out the karaoke machine".

Squall simply replied with another nod, and Quistis, knowing that she wasn't going to get much out of him, walked away towards another companion she thought more talkative. When Squall proceeded to look back at where Seifer was standing minutes before, he was surprised to find him gone.

Frowning at this revelation, he proceeded to look for Rinoa.

Jamie entered the Quad with Gabriel following behind, and spotted some junior classmen that were chatting with each other. Jamie's eyes instantly shone with an idea. "Hey Gabby, you can talk with those people, they look like nice kids, huh?" Jamie asked, but felt the grip on her hand tighten.

With a smile, she bent down to Gabby's level. "Okay Gabby, I'll introduce you to all **my **friends. Happy now?" When she saw him nod, she glanced around trying to find someone that she could introduce Gabby to. With a smile, she saw Irvine standing near the drinks, talking to Zell.

Walking up to the pair, the brunette smiled at them and proceeded to familiarize her 'brother' with the rest of her friends. "Hey guys, this is my brother, Gabby. Gabby, these are two of my friends, Irvine and Zell", and smiled even more when she saw Gabby shake hands with the pair. Incidentally, Irvine had raised his eyebrows when Jamie had mentioned the word 'brother', and wanted to talk with her privately, whilst Zell began to talk to Gabriel about 'shadow-boxing'.

"You adopted him as your brother?" Irvine questioned.

"I had to Irvine, because I saw him in Balamb all by himself. And there was no way that I was going to leave such a sweet boy all by himself in there. I just **had **to bring him here. You understand, don't you?" Jamie said, knowing that Irvine wanted to talk to her about Gabby.

"It's just that….will you be able to look after him by yourself? I mean, with SeeD and everything, would you be able to handle it?" He asked hesitantly.

"Irvine, I'm not a kid, if that's what you-" Jamie started, but Irvine cut across her.

"I know you ain't, but I'm just worried. What if something happened to the both of you?" Irvine asked, worry evident in his facial features.

Jamie smiled at the sense that he actually cared for her, and simply said, "Thanks Irvine, but I'm going to be fine" before hugging him, but she saw something that startled her.

Seifer and Rinoa were dancing together and were standing too close to each other for comfort. Jamie had barely registered that she had released herself from the embrace, and she could feel some unexpected sense of anger boil up inside her conscience. That sense of anger began to rise when she saw Seifer look at her and smirk.

Glaring at him, Jamie left for her dorm, stopping the feeling of having to punch him.

Rinoa and Seifer both left for the benches, whilst the others stayed near the stage. Rinoa was the first to start laughing. "Oh Hyne! Did you see their faces?"

Seifer began to laugh along with her. "Yeah, we totally got them", he said, only increasing their sense of laughter.

A couple of minutes passed, and their laughter slowly subsided, when Seifer finally spoke. "You know, I wonder what they'll do when they find out about this", and he pulled Rinoa with him, as he went for the dorms.

Rinoa felt pretty curious as Seifer was taking her to his dorm, and asked him "You want to take this risk?"

Seifer opened the door to his dorm and just smirked "What risk? I just want to prove to two people how we feel about each other", and locked Rinoa's lips onto his.

Rinoa felt his lips on hers, and she instantly gave in. She began to hold onto his hair for dear life, and occasionally began to moan from pleasure. Seifer had started kissing her down the neckline, and she had to admit something.

She was truly enjoying it.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long update, but I had a party to go to, but I'm happy to say….Chapter 3, complete!

Till next time!

Ciao Amigos!


	4. Chapter 4

-1Disclaimer: I only own Jamie and Gabriel. Square-Enix owns the rest.

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A knock could be heard on Jamie's dormitory door. "Who is it?" She asked.

"It's me, Irvine", came the reply, which sounded slightly muffled.

Jamie opened the door for him and instantly put on a 'happy face'. Being one of her closer friends, she already knew that Irvine would be able to look through her façade.

"You know, you don't have to act around me", Irvine said, concern evident in his eyes. "I just wanted to come here to talk to you".

Jamie's 'fake' smile instantly dropped from her face, and was replaced with one that looked slightly more sincere. "I'm fine Irvine. Really, I am", she comforted him.

Irvine smiled back at her. "Yeah, well….I could tell that there was something bothering you at the party. So I want you to spill", Irvine demanded, wanting to know what could have bothered Jamie so.

Jamie hesitated, then finally replied. "Well, if you must know, it was Seifer".

Irvine's eyes narrowed slightly and his eyebrows were more closer together. "What did he do to you?"

Jamie started. "Irvine, really, it was nothing. I guess it was just….that I saw him with Rinoa, and I dunno…..it just angered me".

Irvine stared at her, and pulled Jamie into a hug, without a warning or any other indication. Jamie, surprised at the gesture, for she had not started it this time, sank into Irvine's arms.

"Are you and him together?" His interested question heard by Jamie as a mumble, which made Jamie instantly shake her head.

"No way, Irvine. Me and him….we just don't go together….you know?" She said, but a hint of uncertainty hidden in her instant reply.

Jamie didn't see the smile appear on Irvine's face, but he felt slightly more relaxed now. "Well, that's good. I don't trust him".

Jamie responded after a moment. "….Nor do I".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Squall felt really nervous and was finishing off some paperwork, but couldn't help be distracted. The reason of his nervousness was that he was planning to propose to Rinoa. He tried to do just that at the party that was yesterday but because he hadn't found her there, he thought that he'd propose today.

"Man, I can't even concentrate now", he muttered to himself, still thinking about the girl clad in blue that had metaphorically stolen his heart. His further thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. With hesitation, he called out "Come in".

Quistis entered his office. "Hey, I just thought that I'd give you my report", she said, wondering if she had come at a bad time.

Squall dismissed her expression with a wave of his hand, and hastily smiled at her. "Quistis, we're friends. I really don't need to see your reports and you should stop being so formal", he said.

Quistis had realised just how much he had changed from the presence of Rinoa. For once, he smiled a lot now, and he also talked much more openly than he used to. Quistis had also remembered when she used to have feelings for her ex-student, and felt pretty envious of Rinoa, but now she realised that that was a past that was long forgotten.

The blonde instructor bowed her head slightly. "Sorry Squall. But it's hard to let go of old habits, right?" She asked, but realised that Squall had let go of his 'old habits', but that was only because he had someone beside him, who cared for him, who _loved _him.

Squall shook his head. "No, it's okay. So….what do you want to talk about?" He asked.

Quistis frowned slightly, and replied. "Well, I thought that I could get a little time off Garden, and I wanted you to ask Cid for me".

Squall looked at her. "Where is he?"

Quistis shook her head. "That's the thing, I don't know. But judging from what he does most of the time, I'm guessing he's either making an important phone call or he's in a meeting".

Squall frowned slightly. "But why don't you want to ask him yourself?"

Quistis looked slightly nervous as she replied to his question. "Well … it's just that … since you're the commander … I thought he might listen to you, is all".

Squall decided to help her and simply nodded, but when she was about to walk out, he called her back. "Quistis … I-I need to ask you something".

Squall couldn't help but become uneasy about how he was going to voice his concern. "Quistis … I want to … pro-propose to Rinoa and … well …" but stopped talking when he saw Quistis smiling slightly. Puzzled by this, he began to frown slightly, which caused Quistis' smile to drop slowly.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Squall, but … I couldn't help it. You've just … changed so much".

Squall felt at a loss for words. Was it just him, or was Quistis acting a little strange? But before he had time to delve further into the issue, he heard Quistis call him. "Squall?"

"O-Oh, I guess I could find Cid and tell him for you", he quickly replied and nodded at her, getting back to his pile of paperwork.

Quistis, used to this sign, understood it to be one of finality and decided to dismiss herself out.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Rinoa felt guilty. **Really **guilty. And the worst part was that she knew **why **she felt guilty. She had slept with her ex-boyfriend, in a futile hope of getting her current boyfriend, Squall, to notice her, after the whole party fiasco. What a **stupid **idea, right?

After sitting up on the bed, which felt **very **comfortable, Rinoa had realised that Seifer wasn't there. However, her plea was answered, when she saw him with nothing clad apart from black jogging bottoms. After he noticed her awake, he decided to say something, to break the awkward silence that was threatening to arise.

"You want some coffee?" However, that question unexpectedly caused something bile to arise in the angelic beauty.

"How can you - How can you talk about coffee at a time like this?" She half-exclaimed, furious at his calmness of the situation. But, then again, there was a big difference in his and her feelings. After all, Seifer was still **single**, which meant that he didn't feel as guilty as her.

But, Rinoa wondered whether he even felt guilty at **all**.

She noticed his eyes darken at the tone of her voice, and she partly regretted shouting at him. But, that part was soon extinguished as he retorted back to her.

"Well, what do you want me to talk about? Shall we talk about **Squall? Squall; **the guy whom **every **single darn girl seems to want to think about; to **talk **about?!" He furiously shouted, and Rinoa could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

_Rinoa, don't let him see you cry. Please don't let him see you cry._ The sorceress began to tell herself, and although she kept most of the tears at bay, she couldn't quite help but gape at him.

Seifer, seeing this, merely scoffed and made his way into the balcony near his room, drinking some of his coffee. After taking a sip, he turned his head back to her. "Rin … You've grown up". That was all he stated before Rinoa broke down and began to cry.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Selphie felt slightly disheartened. Her party didn't quite go as she planned; Jamie had retired to her dorm an hour too early, and the others had begun to split up. And, the **worst **part of that was that she hadn't seen the Guests of Honour dance together. In fact, Selphie hadn't seen Squall and Rinoa together at **all** in the party. After taking a little walk in the Quad, Selphie sighed and made her way into the bench, where Zell was seated, looking as if he was thinking about something really hard.

The martial artist saw the look in Selphie's face when she sat down, and knew that something very **serious **was wrong, to make such a spunky teenager upset. With a slight smile, he addressed her.

"Hey, Selph. What's kept you so down?"

Selphie looked up at him, and returned a sad smile of her own. **Why **did she have to show her emotions so much? Her cheerful façade was dropping, that much she knew, but yet Selphie was never one to frown. Or cry.

"Oh, Zell. My party was such a **failure. **I mean, everyone there was too busy preoccupied with their problems, that they never realised that I was just trying to do my duty as a friend. I just wanted to **help, **Zell", she said, and unexpectedly put her head on his shoulder, willing the tears to not come out.

And, from that, Zell decided to comfort her. "That's not true, Selph. Everyone loved your party - Well, **I **loved your party", he said, then added. "And, I loved the fact that you actually had **hotdogs **in your party", and with that said, the two laughed. But, even after that moment of bliss, Zell had registered something.

Life had been nothing but **rough **on him and all of his friends.

-------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Finally, an update! Sorry about that, reviewers and readers alike, but you **must **know what college does to us peeps!

Anywayz, review, amigos!

Ash XX


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: As you all know, only Jamaila, Gabriel, and now Hekora, are my creations.

Author's Note: Yeah, this chapter contains some swearing, and some lovey-dovey stuff. -Random Gasp- … Yeah, just thought I'd add that …

* * *

_Well … It's another day. Better make the most of it. _Those words rang through Selphie's head, as she got dressed. The whole party fiasco proved difficult to leave Selphie's thoughts: although she did her best to cover up her unease, by plastering a smile on her face. Incidentally, the most ironic thing about the party was that Selphie had specifically hosted it for all her friends: who were either too preoccupied or barely present to fully enjoy themselves. Not to mention that no-one gave her credit for spending time and money hosting the event in the first place.

Well, all but one.

Zell's encounter with Selphie had cheered her up, and proved her wrong. At least one of her friends cared.

And, with thoughts of her fellow hyperactive buddy, Selphie almost skipped past the dormitory corridors, smile in place.

However, merely after exiting the dorm corridors, a frown made its way upon her face. Before her, she saw a group of junior classmen taunting a blonde kid, who she vaguely remembered from the party. When she made her way to the group, Selphie could clearly hear the voices of the gang.

"Aaw, you're waiting for someone?"

"Well, looks like the pwoor little baby needs his mummy."

"Haha, yeah, if he even **has** one!"

"Stop it!" The blond victim managed to protest, but Selphie had already made her way towards him, shouting at the other kids.

"Hey, stop picking on the poor boy, you mean bullies! Now, get out of here, before I make sure that you kids serve detention!" The threat, obviously too much for them, caused the kids to scarper as far as their feet would take them. As soon as they were out of her sight, Selphie looked back at the blond kid.

"Hey, are you okay? What's your name? Do you have somewhere to stay?"

As the boy turned to look at Selphie, she realized that he looked to be in the verge of tears. She felt even more sympathy for him, when she heard his sweet voice. "My name's … Gabriel. And I … was waiting for Jamie."

_Jamie? Is Jamie looking after him? _The brunette thought, frowning inwardly. "Well … I'm not sure where Jamie is. But in the meantime, how 'bout staying in my dorm?"

Smiling as the boy nodded his head, Selphie punched her fist in the air, going back to her exuberant self. "Booyaka! We're going to have so much fun!"

At least her mind would be preoccupied from the party, if only temporarily.

* * *

Literally striding across the 2nd floor corridors, Seifer began to replay the events that occurred in the so-called 'party': Jamaila's furious expression, the night with Rinoa -

Stopping his train of thought abruptly, Seifer dug in his jean pockets for a cigarette: his usual remedy for escaping any uncomfortable thoughts. After locating one, he then dug around for a lighter. After successfully lighting his cigarette, he felt relief wash over him.

However, that moment was short-lived, as another voice shouted "Hey, Almasy! Smoking's not allowed inside Garden!"

Rolling his eyes, Seifer resumed walking. "Do you think I _care, _Chicken-Wuss?"

Zell simply made his way in front of Seifer, causing the taller blond to stop in his tracks. "You _should _care, Almasy. Otherwise, you might find yourself out of this Garden faster than you can say -"

"Are you gonna move out of my way _now, _or after I've shoved Hyperion up your ass?" Seifer's anger was elevating now, and didn't seem to be able to diminish.

Zell answered with a mute glare. Satisfied that his threat had hit home, Seifer raised his eyebrows mockingly, then swerved around Zell: resuming his walk to the elevator.

_I'm impressed … Chicken-Wuss didn't piss in his pants, like I thought. _

The first two words that the Gunblade wielder inwardly said … were the truth.

* * *

Quistis was lurking out of sight, and had heard every word exchanged between the two blond SeeDs. However, she was much more interested in Zell's sudden 'tough-man'act, as opposed to Seifer breaking the rules.

_He __**has**__ changed …_

Deciding to make her presence known, Quistis walked over to Zell. "Well done, Zell." She said, with a smile. Both slightly amused and surprised at Zell's quick turn: his eyes wide and mouth agape - to some extent - she watched his posture relax slightly.

"Heh, yeah, it was pretty … unexpected, I guess", he said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Then, more enthusiastically "But that idiot had it coming to him for a long time now."

Quistis smiled slightly. "I suppose …" Then, she decided on a change of subject. "Have you finished with your SeeD reports? I think there's a meeting next week."

Zell seemed quite shocked that he had to fill in some paperwork: with his results in class, it was pretty obvious that his talent lay in the more practical aspects, rather than the theory. "Oh - SeeD reports? Well … I'll get them done: don't you worry, Quis!"

Quistis nodded. "Good to hear. But … I've still got some more to do. Well … I guess I'll have to leave you, Zell. Bye."

Zell had just muttered a 'Bye' in reply, as Quistis made her way to the elevator. From then on, his thoughts centred around his conversation with Quistis, and how she had congratulated him.

* * *

For some reason, Jamie felt nervous.

Her and Irvine had decided to take a walk in the Quad, possibly to relish in the nice breeze, or relieve themselves of any inner turmoil.

At first Jamaila had no idea why she felt so nervous, until a sudden thought had struck her.

… _What if he wants to ask me out? _

Although her inner self doubted it, she had registered something, regarding the Galbadian. He never hung around as many women as he used to. In fact, Jamie was about the only female cadet he used to be around these days.

Hiding away her doubts, Jamie was about to speak, when her phone suddenly began to vibrate in her jean pocket. After rummaging in her pocket, the brunette located her phone, and realized that the call was from Selphie.

Turning to look at Irvine, Jamie pointed at her phone, and Irvine waved a hand, as if to say 'Yeah, don't worry. You can take the call.'

With a smile, Jamie left Irvine by himself, and answered the call. "Hello; Selphie?"

* * *

Irvine looked at Jamie, as she walked away, and was just about to continue walking when a female voice alerted him. "Hey there, need some company?"

Locating the source of the voice, Irvine realized that it was a female sitting on one of the benches. _Hmm, never seen __**her **__here before …_

The female had silver hair, which cascaded to her back, and was clothed in a V-neck purple sleeved top, with a denim skirt and long black boots. With a smile, Irvine sat next to her.

"I … guess so."

* * *

"Oh thanks, Selph! I'm so **glad** that Gabby's okay!"

"_Gabby? … Oh right! Yeah, so … I'll look after him for now."_

"Thanks again, Selph. Well, if that's all -"

"_Actually, Gabby told me something that happened during the party …"_

"… Go on."

"_It was about Rinoa and Seifer."_

"… Right …?"

"… _Apparently they slept together."_

"…"

"… _Jamaila?"_

"… Thanks again for looking after Gabriel, Selph. But, I'll have to end the call now."

"_Oh - okay. Bye."_

"… Bye."

* * *

A mixture of emotions hit Jamaila, at that point.

/"_It was about Rinoa and Seifer."_

"… Right …?"

"… _Apparently they slept together."/_

Willing herself to keep her tears - of confusion, anger … jealousy? - at bay, Jamie made her way to where Irvine would have been standing.

But, another shocking scene welcomed her.

For there, sitting on the bench, was Irvine with an unfamiliar girl. And, what was more, was that their lips were locked onto each other's: the female seated on Irvine's lap.

Eyes glistening with tears, Jamie blinked rapidly: to stop them from falling, and barely registered the female excuse herself and take her leave. An uncomfortable silence then grew, until Irvine tried to find the right words to break it.

"Jamie -" was all he could manage, before he saw Jamie walk swiftly out of the Quad, which left him feeling just as upset as he did the day he was planning to enrol to Galbadia Garden.

Guilt truly was a painful feeling.

* * *

Author's Note: Hey-hey! I've updated to-day!! WHEE!!

Okay, randomness aside - This was quite a chapter to put together, sicne I've altered some upcoming events. And, the 'mysterious female' does serve a purpose … Well, apart from as Irvine's 'plaything'!

And, before I go:

* * *

**NEXT CHAPTER:-**

Squall has a surprise for Rinoa.

… As does Jamie (which is less friendly, for Rinoa).

Another mysterious figure appears.

The female is introduced.

* * *

R&R, please!

Ash XX


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I only own what you don't recognise. Commit that to memory.

Author's Note: Well, I'm back, and planning to introduce more issues and problems with the Gang. Lolz, how evil am I?

* * *

" – Speech

_Italics – _Thoughts

Line breaks – Another scenario

-- : -- : - Time lapse

**Bold – **Emphasized words/Flashbacks

* * *

Selphie had just been poring over a board game that she had bought with Gabriel, and was just about to explain the meaning of a 'Geezard Gust' when a couple of light knocks on her dormitory door alerted her. Gesturing at Gabriel to carry on playing, Selphie opened the door and came face-to-face with Jamie.

Allowing curiosity to mar her face, Selphie addressed the brunette, who looked as if she had just refrained from crying, although with not much success. "Hey, J. What happened?"

Even Gabriel allowed his attention to get caught and also turned to look at Jamie. When she uttered something in a low voice, Selphie simply nodded and opened the door even more. As Jamie made her way to sit on Selphie's bed, she gave Gabriel a small, watery smile; one that he couldn't manage to return. Somebody had hurt her … Just as others had hurt and trampled over him.

Selphie made her way to her bed and sat next to Jamie. Slightly hesitant, Jamie looked at Selphie. "It … was – I guess – my fault. I was just so …" Hopelessly, she sighed and shook her head. Allowing a few seconds to pass, in which she composed herself, Jamie began to inform the two of what happened between Irvine and the anonymous female.

"And I was already upset over the fact that Seifer and Rinoa had slept together, and I guess … I just wanted some company", Jamie finished, somewhat dejectedly. Pondering to herself, Selphie asked a question.

"And – you have no idea who this female was?"

"No." Jamie shook her head. "I don't think I've seen her around Garden until recently. But, all I know is that she had silver hair –"

A gasp from Gabriel drew the two females' attention to him. "I saw someone with silver hair as well! But, it was a guy."

Selphie questioned him further. "Where exactly did you see him, Gabby?"

"He was on his way to the cafeteria, when I last saw him."

Selphie looked back at Jamie. "Heeey – what if they're related? I mean, it's kind of funny, isn't it … Two strange visitors with silver hair …"

Jamie looked down at the carpet as she spoke her next words. "Yeah, but … It's not like I'm going to want to **talk **to him – or her."

"But it'd be great if we could suss out where she came from by talking to her brother!"

Jamie shook her head. "Selph, we can't be sure that they're even siblings. And", she started, since Selphie looked as if she wanted to interrupt. "I really couldn't care less where she goes; I just don't want her to get in the way of me and Irvine's friendship … Or anyone else's, for that matter."

There was a terse silence, where Selphie absentmindedly began to play with a loose thread from her Chocobo-printed bedsheets and which was then broken by Jamie, who looked at Gabriel. "So, you ready to go, Gabby?"

With a nod and a smile, Gabby made his way to the door. Jamie rose up from the bed, as did Selphie.

"Where are you -?"

"Thanks a lot for looking after Gabby, Selph. But, I think it's best if I get out of your hands."

"- Don't be silly, J. I enjoyed the company."

Allowing a smile to unveil itself, Jamie grasped Selphie in a friendly hug, which Selphie returned with equal respect. A couple of seconds later, and the hug was broken.

"Well … look after yourself, Selphie."

"You too, J."

As Jamie exited, Selphie called Gabriel back. Puzzled, Jamie stood where she was, and looked back. Selphie picked up the board game she had been previously playing with Gabby and gave it to him. "Here. I think you'd enjoy it more than I would."

Eyes glistening with gratitude, Gabriel thanked her a couple of times. Selphie beamed at him. "Hey, don't worry about it."

Making his way to Jamie, Gabriel peered at the cover of the game; in awe that he had a game that he could play himself. Looking back at Selphie, Jamie gave her a bigger smile. "Thanks again."

Glad that the two were happy (or as happy as can be, in Jamie's case) Selphie smiled back. "Anytime, J."

However, as the duo made their way back to their dorm, Selphie's smile slowly slid away. Now, she had just realized that she wasn't the only one with problems. Heck, her problems were possibly tiny compared to her friends' various issues and complications. Looking at two photos visible from her nightstand, she smiled at the memories.

The first one was of all of the Orphanage Gang: where Irvine was seated next to Selphie, both with huge smiles upon their faces. Seifer and Jamie, the latter with her head leaning against the blonde's shoulder, both smiling slightly. Then was Quistis, with a smile across her face, seated next to Zell, who had a goofy grin across his face. Then was Squall and Ellone, the former with a tiny half-smile across his face, and the latter radiantly beaming at the camera.

The second one was with the Gang again, but Rinoa had replaced Jamie, and Seifer was absent. First, Squall was seated in a chair, and Rinoa had her arms wrapped around his neck, both smiling. Next was Irvine and Selphie, who had their arms around each other, beaming like they usually do … did. Quistis was there, standing, and had her arms folded, but her face was concealed by the laugh she had been trying hard to muffle with her hand. Next to her, Zell was sheepishly grinning, and had one hand placed at the back of his head: an old habit, Selphie deciphered.

However, the longer she kept staring at those pictures, the more she realized that things were never going to be the same. No matter what.

* * *

Jamaila had just been talking to Gabriel about his board game and had unlocked her dormitory door, when she was attracted by a sudden flash of blue. Looking back, she saw Rinoa walking through the corridor. Then, without warning, Jamaila felt a powerful feeling rise inside her: hate, which had possibly been formed from her previous feelings of envy and general dislike.

Uttering a 'Be right back' to Gabriel, who looked at her with confusion, Jamie made her way towards Rinoa, who had stopped walking and watched Jamie with no clear expression on her face which revealed what she was thinking. As soon as Jamie reached Rinoa, she stopped; her eyes narrowed only slightly. However, her voice was oddly calm and controlled.

"Did you enjoy the party?"

Rinoa looked at Jamie uncertainly, and hesistantly answered. "Um … yeah, it was al-alri –"

"I heard you and Seifer went off somewhere together afterwards."

Rinoa's eyes blazed fiercely. "Look, whatever you heard – it's all a –"

"Don't tell me it was a lie, Heartilly. You just damaged a young boy's innocence, doing what you two did …"

"Look, Jamie –"

"Don't you feel guilty? At all?!" Jamie exclaimed. "The Commander of this Garden loves you! And you go off and betray his trust!"

"Look, I didn't know –"

"Is it just Seifer? Or have you done some others - ?!"

Rinoa's eyes widened in shock. _How dare she?! She's trying to … make out that I'm some sort of – whore! _"I am **not **someone else's plaything." She spoke darkly: her eyes narrowed into slits.

There was a silence, where Rinoa and Jamie did nothing else but glare at each other. A few seconds later, then Jamie slowly shook her head and took two steps back: Rinoa's eyes still locked on firmly on Jamie. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Jamaila's fist collided with Rinoa's nose.

With a yelp of pain, Rinoa landed on the ground, holding her nose, which was desperately flowing with blood. Looking down in stunned disbelief, Jamie was barely aware of anything around her apart from what she had done. However, a shout woke her up from her thoughts.

"Rinoa?! Are you okay?!"

Without thinking about what she was doing, Jamie turned and sprinted back towards the circular Garden hallway, just as Seifer ran towards Rinoa. _No way … That can't have been …_

Placing one hand on the raven-haired beauty's back and one on the back of her head, Seifer lifted her slightly and placed her head securely on his lap. He cursed, as he groped around for an unused tissue in his pocket. Locating one, he tenderly pressed it to Rinoa's nose: easing the blood flow only slightly.

Rinoa was about to open her mouth, but Seifer interrupted. "Look, I'm gonna take you to Kadowaki, alright? Try to get up now …" He said, and helped Rinoa to her feet. With slightly wavering feet, Rinoa and Seifer made their way to the Infirmary, the former still dazed beyond words.

* * *

Jamie kept herself hidden, her heart hammering like mad. Just what had made her do **that? **The brunette had always had something against Heartilly … She couldn't doubt that …

Yet, that punch was far too much, even for her. She had always had a slight difficulty in controlling her anger, but yet after just recently channelling her sorceress powers –

"You know, **that **was something."

With a gasp, Jamie swiftly turned around and faced the speaker: a male with silver hair, attired in beige combat bottoms and a blue hooded top. Composing herself, Jamie asked him, quite fiercely. "And what does **that **mean?"

"Whoa, chill", he said, placing his hands in front of him; like a shield. Jamie was involuntarily reminded of Seifer. However, that did nothing to alleviate her. "Look, I saw what you did. And, I'm not hatin' on you, either."

Jamie just stared at him mutely; desperate to find out if there was going to be any commotion stirring now. But, then again, most of the students would possibly be in class. And, the corridors were deserted when the incident occurred, after all. But, in time …

"You got anywhere else to go?"

"Hmm?" Jamie looked up at him, and realized that his eyes were a startling violet. About to contemplate his distinct appearance, he spoke again and this time, Jamie listened.

"I was just wonderin' if you were busy."

"Oh – N-No, I'm not …"

"Great. You wanna come stroll with me?"

Jamie stared at him. He wasn't exactly handsome, but he had an intriguing aura about him. And, besides … she could use the company.

"Um … sure."

He grinned. Jamie saw the face of Seifer again. "Great! Let's go to the Quad!"

And gesturing for Jamie to walk beside him, the two set off for the Quad, Jamaila hoping to erase her previous thoughts out of her mind.

* * *

Irvine was still intent on finishing his lunch as quickly as possible. He felt really awkward … What if that female came back? He would have to talk to her … sort the mess out …

Or what if Jamie entered right this moment? He felt as if an invisible hand had just clenched around his chest. Trying hard to shake that feeling away, he raised his head enough to see the silver-haired female make her way towards him. When she seated herself opposite him, Irvine spoke.

"Um … hey again."

She beamed. "Hey. Nice to see you again." When Irvine didn't say anything, she continued. "So … I have some spare time. And I was wondering –"

"No." Irvine said it so abruptly that it barely sounded like him at all; a fact which the female had also realized, and looked slightly offended. Hastily, he added "I'm sorry. But I'm busy, you know … SeeD stuff and all ..."

"Oh – you're a SeeD." She said.

"Yeah … So I'm going to be pretty busy for a couple of days …"

Her stare was so intense that Irvine looked down as he hastily ate: hoping to get out as fast as possible. Why did she make him feel that way … ?

"Well, any time you're free … Just ask around for Hekora."

Irvine looked up, puzzled. "Heko -?"

"My name."

"O-Oh …" He looked down again, and gulped down his last spoonful. "W-Well, I'll be going now …"

She barely moved a muscle as Irvine got up and left the table. Wasn't she good enough for him … No, she convinced herself it wasn't that … After all, he had kissed her back that time at the Quad.

_Well, there's just one thing for it – Find out what's distracting him, and consume it, envelope it. Until __**I **__am his only distraction._

: -- : --

The evening passed quite smoothly for most, but Squall Leonhart was still nervous. Why? Because he convinced himself that _this would be it_: his proposal to Rinoa would be today. Sure, he hadn't spent as much time with her as he should have; being her Knight and boyfriend. But, he had promised himself, that would all change today.

That is, if she accepted. Every time he though that, however, he ended up even more nervous than he had originally been. _Stop it. _He chided himself. _Of course she would accept; not stop being a coward. _And just after he had thought that, the object of his desire entered his dorm. He still couldn't believe the rumours going around; he just hoped that Rinoa's nose would go back to normal.

"**And it would." **The doctor had said. **"Just make sure not too much pressure is applied to it, and if you follow my instructions, everything should be fine."**

In fact, when she smiled, she still looked as beautiful as ever. A special smile, just for him … "Hey, Squall."

"H-Hey." _You can't back out now … _"S-So, have you heard of the new restaurant that just opened around town?"

Rinoa nodded. "Yeah, I have. 'The Blue Dragon', right?"

"Yeah … Well, would you like to -?"

"Check it out with you? Sure." She smiled at him, when he stared at her. "… Sorry. I couldn't help it."

Squall gave her a small smile. "Around … 7:00 okay with you?"

Rinoa smiled back at him. "Sure. Can't wait!"

Squall nodded. "Then, it's settled. I'll pick you up at 6:00."

Rinoa gave him her own nod, when Squall's cell phone suddenly rang. After registering the Caller ID, Squall raised his index finger, as if to excuse himself, and made his way outsisde, leaving Rinoa to her thoughts and the occasional pain shooting through her nose.

: -- : --

Squall had insisted that he was far too busy to deal with any of the caller's documentation, which left Rinoa touched; he really wished to spend more time with her. However, she had barely thanked him, when she went straight back to her dorm to get dressed, and waited for Squall, who had gone and rented one of the Garden cars; not too flashy, but it was fine for Rinoa. However, the short car journey there was quite awkward: Squall was nervously shifting around slightly, which only perked up Rinoa's nervousness.

But before she had fully registered it, both her and Squall were both seated and eating, albeit silently. Squall looked deep into Rinoa's chocolate brown eyes before speaking; as if he could see through her nervousness.

"Rinoa …" She looked up. "You know, we've spent a lot of time together, and … I guess I'm saying this sooner than I expected." When Rinoa stayed silent, he took this as his cue to continue. "I just … never realized how much you mean to me. So, I'm asking you …"

Now, all of people at the restaurant were staring.

"Rinoa … Will you marry me?"

Rinoa found that her eyes were filling to the brim with tears. But, unbidden, an outraged voice was heard inside the sorceress's head: "**The Commander of this Garden loves you! And you go off and betray his trust!"**

With no control whatsoever, Rinoa began to sob and ran straight out of the restaurant, leaving Squall, and everyone else in the restaurant, in a stunned silence.

* * *

Author's Note: Wow! I typed this all in one day! Lolz, but I doubt that's much of an achievement (Although it is for me!)

I'll love it if you guys R&R, though!

XX

* * *

**NEXT CHAPTER:-**

Another confrontation

Who's the silver-haired dude?

First date … or is it?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: The only characters that I own are Jamaila and Gabriel.

--

"" – Speech

_Italics – _Thoughts

Line breaks – Another scenario

: -- : -- - Time lapse

**Bold – **Emphasized words/Flashbacks

--

The city of Balamb looked really pretty at night. Although it was not beautiful in comparison to Deling City, it was pretty nonetheless. But Selphie surely had not expected to come here at all, but due to Xu's persuasion, she was the one forced to collect the weapons required for the younger SeeD cadets to train with. But she wasn't complaining. No, Selphie would have loved to take another chance to see the pristine city glowing with lights. And incidentally, she loved to go out and about, since she was not one to lounge around in one place for too long.

Tapping her fingers idly on the steering wheel, as she waited for the traffic lights to turn green, the brunette caught sight of a figure; an all-too-familiar figure wearing an all-too-familiar dress. The said figure had run out of a restaurant and had hailed a cab; clambering to get inside whilst she withdrew some coins from her black purse. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Selphie struggled to see who it was – although she did have an idea – and had barely registered that the lights had shifted colors; a fact that was only known to her by the beep of the car behind her. Hastily, she drove the car and set off for her destination, all other thoughts temporarily forgotten.

--

Placing a soft, white quilt over Gabby's torso, Jamie watched him for a moment, as his chest rhythmically heaved up and down as he peacefully slumbered. However, the sound of a couple of persistent knocks awoke Jamie from her moment of peace, as she frowned and made her way to the door. After unlocking it, she turned the handle and found herself face-to-face with him.

**Seifer.**

--

Squall felt numb. Even as he walked across the dormitory corridors, he felt as if he couldn't hear or see anyone else; all his mind was focused on was the sobbing form of Rinoa as she had run out of the restaurant. His hands involuntarily formed fists – in result of anger or rejection, he didn't know – and the only thing that bought him back to Gaia was the "Oomph!" that was heard as his body made contact with someone else's, resulting in the latter with her butt on the ground and the former staring at the familiar figure of Selphie.

A wave of déjà vu hit him at that point as he asked "Are you okay?" Selphie, possibly also recognized the familiar scene, smiled up at him as she lifted herself back up into a standing position.

"Heh, looks like it's déjà vu. But, yeah, I'm fine."

Squall nodded and was just about to set off again, when Selphie's next sentence stopped him.

"You know, you should go see Rinoa now. She seems really depressed about something."

To her surprise, Squall's eyes instantly hardened and he looked across the hallway. "I'm really tired and I want to rest. She can come speak to me in the morning."

"But, Rinoa -" She started meekly.

"I **said **she can come speak to me in the morning," Squall said through clenched teeth. Selphie, sensing his anger, simply let him walk away and pondered on what may have happened between the two.

--

"What are **you **doing here?" She asked him, her tone slightly harsh.

Seifer had either not sensed her unwelcome tone or didn't feel offended by it, as he simply replied "I came to talk to you."

Rolling her eyes at his blunt reply, Jamie placed a hand on her hip, as if she thought this was a waste of her time. "I figured. What about?" She had a feeling that she already knew the answer.

"Rinoa."

Ignoring the unknown feeling building up against her chest, Jamie tried to keep her voice as casual as possible. "… What about her?"

"Did you know that she's in the Infirmary now?"

"No … No, I didn't." Still the attempt at being casual, although her voice faltered slightly.

Seifer snorted disbelievingly. "Don't lie to me, Jamaila. You're the reason she's in there now and you know it."

"What –"

"I saw you run away from her when she was hit. And I've also realised how much you hate her; it's so blatantly obvious." He smirked slightly, as he leaned towards her. "I may be blond, but I'm not stupid."

Either to avoid looking at Seifer's triumphant smirk or to avoid giving in to confessing to him, Jamie looked away and, instead, stared at the blue wall. "... Okay, so you came to tell me off because of that, right?" Her turquoise eyes met Seifer's jade-green. "But, I seriously do regret it. As much as I ... don't like her, I would never have done that, if I could -"

"Jamie, don't try to screw around with me. You would have done it," Seifer interrupted. "And, to think, it's all because of jealousy." He watched, satisfied, as Jamie's eyes narrowed at the last word.

"Look, whatever you think, I am **not **jealous of -"

"How come you hate her so much, then? Is it because of the fact that she is the only person that got Squally-boy to open up? Or is it," he questioned, enjoying the way that her eyes admitted defeat as she tried to look away from him, and smirked. "- Is it because of what happened that day? When me and Rin -"

"It's got nothing to do with that," she hissed, her eyes glowing like crystals. He raised his eyebrows disbelievingly.

"If you say so ... But," he leered, leaning towards her once again. "If you really wanted, we could -" He gestured to the vacant bed.

"I don't believe you." She scoffed, disgusted.

He merely smirked back.

A couple of seconds passed, in which Jamie simply stared anywhere but at Seifer, who could easily sense her unease. Placing a hand on the back of her head, Seifer pulled Jamie in for a kiss, whilst the latter had no time to react as her lips forcefully crashed into his.

Jamaila had read the whole saga of 'A Sorceress and Her Knight' stories and had convinced herself, at an early age, that fairy tales like that didn't really exist ... The same theory could apply to a first kiss. There was no tenderness, gentleness or any fireworks shooting off at the distance. The kiss they shared held abysmal possessiveness; Seifer first to break out of their intimate contact.

Still shocked beyond words, Jamie watched him; her mouth agape and her voice temporarily lost.

"Sweet dreams, Kramer." He said, the smirk heard in his tone of voice as he made his way back to his room, leaving the brunette to ponder on her own befuddled thoughts.

: -- : --

The morning was always one of Zell's best times. But today, he felt extremely ... agitated. _I guess I should really go and kick some ass. _He'd barely been battling any beasts for a long time and he was itching for practice. Walking towards the TC, he checked and double-checked Ehrgeiz, ensuring that it was in a fit condition to battle.

Upon arriving at his destination, the martial artist caught sight of some other ill-prepared cadets making their way out; obviously having been ill-informed of the strength of the beasts that lurked inside. Continuing on, Zell found nothing else of interest for a while.

A rustle in the bushes instantly caught Zell's attention and he clenched his hands into fists and raised them in front of his face, falling into his signature battle stance. A couple of rustles followed the first and a Grat made its presence known. Slightly disappointed, Zell pondered whether or not he should bother with the fiend. _But, this could be a good chance of flexing my muscles. _After all, a battle was a battle and despite not being one of the more challenging foes, Grats were still quite benefitial nevertheless.

Grinning to himself, the brawler waited for the Grat to fall into position and charged at it.

--

"And that is exactly how the Lunar Cry had started." She said and placed some strands of hair behind her ear in irritation. After glancing at most of the occupants in the class, Quistis realised that they were ever not bothered or were just hiding their interest.

She guessed that it was the former.

Looking upon the students' faces again, Quistis sighed, for she knew she would have to go into the 'SeeD Speech'. "Everyone, you should already know that your theory tests are fast approaching next week and regardless of whether or not you find any of the subjects **interesting**," She stared particularly at the blond seated at the back before continuing, "you would still have to take notes and at least show some enthusiasm in wanting to pass your exam."

Despite the slight scolding, only a couple of students paid attention to her, with their backs straight and their attention solely focussed on her. _Hyne, tell me they're not just Trepies ... _With another sigh, she was about to turn around and continue writing out notes on the blackboard, when a raised hand caught her attention. Glimpsing the student responsible, she realized that it was Eric, one of the smarter ones in the class. She nodded at him.

"Did you want to ask a question, Eric?"

He straightened his glasses sheepishly. "Um, yes, Instructor Trepe. I was just wondering what the Centran empire had to do with the Lunar Cry."

Then, silence.

Quistis allowed her mind to process what he had said and questioned him. "Are you saying that you weren't listening to the half-hour lecture I gave you on that very topic?"

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head in reply.

"... Very well. I'll explain."

She did not even acknowledge the other students' aggravated sighs.

--

"They're from a city called Callistus." He confirmed and Irvine was only even more confused.

"Callistus?" He repeated. The Headmaster nodded.

"Yes, a city now in ruins. It's located in the Nectar Peninsula in Centra," He elaborated. "However, most of the townspeople there have certain ... characteristic traits that make them easily distinguishable."

"Yeah, but what exactly did they come here for?"

"Well, as they seemed to be orphans, I thought that it would be best if they stay here with us for the time-being. They seem to have promising talent, in any case."

Irvine looked slightly hesitant. "Yeah, but, Sir ..."

"Irvine, do you honestly mistrust them that much?"

Irvine allowed his gaze to fall down upon the velvet carpet. With a smile, Cid decided to break the silence. "If you wish, I could ask Xu to research more into them. But," he continued "as long as you don't say a thing."

Irvine's gaze fell back to the Headmaster. "Really? Hey, thanks Sir!"

With a nod, Cid allowed Irvine to escort himself out and proceeded to call Xu.

--

"And then, I asked her 'Do you seriously like me? Like, really like me? Because these days, you never know ... ya know'?" Raijin was telling his two fellow Disciplinary Committee members. However, Seifer's attention was caught on something else ...

Just then, two figures entered the Cafeteria and queued at the back, waiting for the line to shorten so that they could purchase some food. Obviously sensing someone's eyes on her, Seifer watched as Jamie turned to look at him and, for a couple of seconds, their eyes met. Unsure of the emotion that rose up inside him, he watched further as the silver-haired male beside her said something to her, which caused her to break eye contact with Seifer and look back at the queue.

To avoid watching the two converse, the blond turned back to his posse, who were regarding him with calculating expressions. Feigning ignorance, he stared back at them, hoping that they weren't thinking what he thought they were thinking. "What?"

Still staring at him, Fujin shrugged. "DISTRACTED."

Raijin nodded and followed his comrade's lead. "Yeah, you were lookin' at Jamie. It's like somethin's goin' on between you two, ya know?"

Raising his eyebrows with an amused smile, Seifer watched them. He was impressed that they had caught on ... Faster than expected, in fact. "Nah, there's nothing going on between us. Don't worry about it," he added, and Raijin resumed eating, apparently satisfied with the answer. Fujin, however, was still regarding him with the expression that made her feel slightly crafty. To avoid looking at her, Seifer began to stir his coffee and watched as the liquid stirred within the cup.

"JEALOUS?"

Surprised, he looked back up at his female companion. Maybe, just maybe, he **was **too predictable.

--

Glad that Quistis had accepted his date (or, according to her, a 'friendly get-together'), Zell was still in his dorm room, pondering on what he should wear. The simple matter of clothing used to be so trivial to him. _But not now. _

In the end, he decided to simply put on a red t-shirt bearing the slogan 'G is for Gay-badia' and some blue jeans, followed by his usual red sneakers. After looking back at his shirt, he decided to cover it up with a black hoodie he had recently bought from Balamb. Satisfied with his appearance, he exited his room and made his way to where Quistis would be now.

Her office.

--

With reluctance, Squall decided to talk to Rinoa. However, truth be told, he didn't know exactly what he was going to talk to her about. After all, her desertion had contributed to his broken heart and now he felt he had nothing more to say to her. But Selphie's insistence and (he felt like a lovestruck fool thinking it) her angelic face both meant that he had decided a while ago.

Unbeknownst to him, his feet had already taken him to Rinoa's room. With a sigh, the gray-eyed male knocked on the door twice and waited. A couple of seconds passed and the door opened.

He found that he had never truly appreciated just how beautiful she looked, regardless of how he felt towards her right now. However, she was looking at him inquisitively and he had no choice but to say what was on his mind.

"Rinoa ... we need to talk."

--

It was an awkward date.

Well, there were many reasons of why Zell was currently whistling tunelessly and Quistis was trying her best to mark the remaining student body's examination papers. However, the most prominent reason must have been because it was only considered as a date by one of the participants; the other was simply 'accompanying a friend.' As Zell continued to whistle, the blonde Instructor raised her eyes up to watch him.

The brawler, eventually aware of this, stopped at once. "Oh, heh ... Sorry. Keep marking, Quis."

Smiling, she put her pen down. "Thanks, Zell. But, I've just realized that I haven't been paying you much attention. I'm sorry."

Zell grinned. "No worries. I know how much you like to - uh - pass students."

He refrained from hitting his head, at that point.

Picking up her pen, Quistis resumed marking. After placing the exam paper of 'Lyn, Jeanette' aside, she smiled up at Zell, who had a sudden urge to say what he thought about her.

"Um ... Quistis?"

The hesitant tone which he used must have worked, since Quistis stopped marking once more.

"Um, you know ..." He swallowed, then tried again. "I think I ... I think I l-like you."

--

Jamie was glad that **he **had decided to escort her to her dormitory. As much as he resembled Seifer at times, he and Seifer could not be more different. She looked back at him and watched him for a while. Ashibo, content on finishing off his burger, looked at Jamie, when he realized that she was smiling at him, and gave her a grin reminiscent of Seifer's.

As they stopped outside Jamie's dormitory room, he turned to her. "You'll be okay by yourself, right?"

Jamie smiled back up at him. "I'll be fine ... Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "Well, I'm pretty busy now. So, I just wanted to make sure you were gonna be okay by yourself before leaving."

She smiled back at him and as he outstretched his arms, she moved forward and rested her head on his lean chest. They stood like that for a couple of seconds before he bade her farewell.

"Bye, Jamie."

"... Goodbye, Ashibo."

But, as he walked away, Jamie couldn't help but have a sneaking suspicion that he was lying.

--

Author's Note: Oh ... I was actually planning to have this updated on my birthday (which was yesterday, by the way) but unfortunately, couldn't. Ah well, no worries. R&R, please!

But, before we go:

--

**NEXT CHAPTER:-**

Plans could go into practice

Mission time!

The truth unveiled


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I only own what you don't recognise, got it?

--

"" – Speech

_Italics – _Thoughts

Line breaks – Another scenario

: -- : -- - Time lapse

**Bold – **Emphasized words/Flashbacks

--

Irvine was making his way towards the Cafeteria, slightly pleased that Cid had accepted his request and was willing to delve into the two strangers' backgrounds, providing that he kept quiet about it. And, he did.

However, **some **people had a lot of 'connections' and usually attempted to see past all the secrecy.

"Oh, Irvy!" He heard Selphie's voice call from behind him. He turned around and smiled to himself at the use of the nickname he had adopted at the orphanage; something which proved that he wasn't alone, regardless of what his 'lone-wolf' instincts had to say about that.

"Hey Selph," he greeted in reply.

Selphie stopped jogging towards him. "You know, I've heard some things."

"... About?"

Selphie looked both left and right and then, when she was convinced the coast was clear, she leaned slightly forward. "About the ... twins. Or siblings, whoever."

Irvine looked slightly confused but then he immediately brightened up at the thought he spoke aloud. "You've got some information about them?"

"No, not **that**," she shook her head, "I mean, the so-called 'plan' that you and Headmaster Cid have ... put together."

"Oh."

Irvine couldn't help but be slightly disappointed at that; here, he had hoped that someone else was investigating into the matter of those two enigmatic Centrans, save for himself. However, Selphie must have noticed his disappointment also, for she smiled at him and struck a pose, which was so ... 'Selphie' that he couldn't help but smile again.

Maybe, Selphie was getting to him more than they both thought.

"Well, don't worry," she chirped happily, "Since I have a pre-tty good idea of what you're going to do ... do you mind if I tag along?"

Irvine blinked. _Wow, I wasn't expecting that at all ..._

"Well ..." he began, wanting to warn her that it could be more risky, if she decided to tag along, but the look on Selphie's face stopped him from doing so. "... I don't mind; you're more than welcome to tag along."

As she jumped up and down with glee, Irvine was reassured that Selphie would be fine and that she was more than capable of taking care of herself; her magic and love for explosives usually did that for her.

She stopped jumping and tilted her head to the side; another habit of hers. "Sooooo ... you have any idea where they could be?"

Irvine shook his head. "I checked the dormitories, but didn't find them there."

A few seconds passed in silence, in which Irvine was sure that Selphie was thinking the same thing that he was:

_... Where exactly could they be hiding?_

However, as if a lightbulb had suddenly flashed on the top of her head, Selphie raised her right arm slightly, her excitement causing her to lightly jump from foot to foot. "Heeeeyyyy ... what if they're in one of the classrooms? I mean," she continued, "if they're working for someone, then maybe they're trying to find information on us!"

Irvine paid the last part of Selphie's idea no mind, but nodded his head regardless. "Yeah, good idea, Selph! Let's go, then!"

And the two set off for the 2nd floor elevator.

--

"You ... like me?" Quistis's mind couldn't process that information, for some reason.

"Yeah, I .." he faltered, "I do. I mean - I'm not sure if it's a crush o-or something more, but ... I feel something with you ... I do." He finished, a bit more confident than he felt right now.

"You ... Are you sure that you're in, you know, in **love **with me?" She asked, unsure of whether or not she wanted to hear the answer, anyway. He nodded.

The word 'love' had rolled off her tongue as if it was something foreign to her. As a matter of fact, it kinda was. She had never experienced love first-hand; her past infatuation with Squall was nothing more than 'sisterly love' (she had convinced herself many times.) However, a few weeks prior, Selphie and Rinoa had wanted Quistis to 'loosen up' and "meet a few guys, there are quite a lot of hotties around Balamb these days. Or, so I've been told."

In which the azure-eyed Instructor had retorted "So, why don't you go meet some of them, Selphie?"

This resulted in Selphie stuttering something about "I already have my eye on someone!" and a slight roll of the eyes and smile by Rinoa. Not sure of whether she was lying or not, Quistis nevertheless stopped bugging her about it and continued to mark some more papers.

However, the two had decided to be so 'kind' and hook her up with a Galbadian, who had apparently arrived in Balamb for business purposes. Quistis had never realized which fact she had hated more: the fact that Selphie and Rinoa had decided to for her to meet someone, without informing her beforehand; or the fact that he was Galbadian. Despite handling the total **scumbag **Martine, her attitude towards the Galbadians was still not nice.

She looked back at Zell, who was now fidgeting with the zip of his hooded top; opening and closing the zip. It was then that her eyes caught sight of the message in Zell's T-shirt and she let out a slight laugh. That must have caught his attention, for then he looked back up at her; his expression slightly expectant.

She sighed inaudibly. It was now or never, right?

"Well, you know, Zell -" She stopped as the classroom door opened; revealing a slightly tall man wearing a simply baggy sweatshirt and blue jeans. His hair was limp and covered most of his eyes and he wore glasses atop them. The expression on his face turned to confusion as he looked between Quistis and Zell.

"Um, am I interrupting anything?"

It was her date, Alex.

--

Squall was making his way to the Infirmary; according to a female SeeD, Rinoa was making her way there, as well. He had already told her that he was slightly uncomfortable with the way that their relationship was progressing and instantly opted for the 'taking-it-slow' route; the engagement ring safely hidden away in his dormitory.

The infirmary doors had automatically slid open and the person, who was planning to exit, jumped. Squall halted hastily and watched as Rinoa placed a hand on her chest.

"Gosh, Squall. You scared me!" She exclaimed, and then jokingly chided, "I do **not **want to be given a heart attack before I've turned 20, understand?!"

Squall dismissed her jesting. "Would you like to accompany me to the 'Blue Dragon'?"

Rinoa's smile was instantly wiped off her face; her retort lost. She wanted to avoid that place after the whole fiasco that had occurred last time and she didn't want anything like that to happen again. But, Squall had already requested that they "start anew ... you know, without the awkward complications ..."

Looking back up at him, she tried to put on her best smile. "Sure, Squall, that'd be - that'd be lovely."

His lips rose up into a small smile and he extended his arm out. "Well ... after you, then."

--

The two crept slowly towards the various classrooms, desperate to hear some sort of life behind the closed doors; the female one of the two getting tingles of excitement as they continued to survey the classrooms stealthily.

Selphie had thought it fitting to wear black - "After all, all spies wear black!" - and was pleased when Irvine had complied. She felt really excited every time they passed another classroom door; Irvine frequently muttering "This is the door ... This is the door ..."

_I'm a spy, I'm a spy, I'm a - huh?_

The two stopped immediately when they heard a male speak. "Really, Hekora, there's no need -"

"We will do it and we must!" Hekora's voice almost yelled. "Remember what he told us to -"

"What do you think we should do?" Selphie whispered to Irvine.

Irvine looked back at the closed door for a moment, where Hekora was still ordering the male around, and then looked back at Selphie. "... We're goin' in, Selph."

And, with that said, the two got up from their crouched positions and made their way towards the door, Irvine yanking the door open. Upon entering, the two saw Hekora and Ashibo, about to talk into a cellphone (_obviously trying to inform their master ... or whoever he is, _Irvine thought to himself.) However, before Irvine and Selphie could say anything, Hekora's eyes gleamed an eerie red and she shot a Meltdown spell at the two; something which would have affected Selphie, had Irvine not have called upon Carbuncle to help them. The beam of multiple colors hit the transparent barrier, causing the beam to shoot right back at Hekora, who flew back and hit her head on one of the various terminals scattered throughout the classroom.

"Kora - No!" Ashibo screamed. When she did not reply, Ashibo looked back at the two for hurting his sister and his eyes began to glow similarly; multiple shards of ice appeared to grow within his palms and he shot it at the two SeeDs, who ducked out of the way just in time, causing the spell to hit another one of the terminals. As the machine began to fizz with electricity, Irvine withdrew his gun from his pocket and faced Ashibo.

"Look, why don't you just tell us what the hell is going on," he started. "It'd save us -"

A bang from outside distracted him, causing him to look around for the source of the noise. Seizing his big chance, Ashibo fleed and, ignoring Irvine's protesting shouts and Selphie's screams, he jumped out the window.

The two stood there in silence for a moment, before someone's footsteps could be heard. However, before they had any clue as to what to do, the female poked her head inside the classroom. They watched her look around at the mess for a moment and heard her ask, "Just what ... happened here?"

Irvine and Selphie looked at each other. How exactly were they going to explain to her ... ?

--

"Seifer? Is that you?"

Seifer simply continued to stare off into the distance; his fishing rod in hand, waiting for a fish to bite. He'd never expected Jamie to come here. But, then again, anyone was welcome in Balamb.

Well, almost anyone.

Jamie sat down beside him, her legs crossed. After a moment of silence, she spoke. "... Catch anything yet?"

He simply shook his head.

Another silence. She sighed internally.

"... Well, maybe you need to refine your technique somehow."

He scoffed. "Look, Jamie, I doubt that you've had as much experience as I have in fishing. So, thanks for the advice, but no thanks."

She shrugged. "Okay ... your loss, then."

Seifer looked back at her. Jamie was simply staring at the horizon and he found that he felt a surreal sensation somewhere. To attempt to seize control of the conversation, he asked, "So, where's your kid?"

"'Kid'?" She looked back at him, a frown temporarily marring her features. Then, as if realizing something, she comprehended, "Oh, you mean Gabby."

"Yeah, your 'son'," he said, with a slight edge to his voice.

"Actually, he's my brother. And, he's with Raijin; apparently, Raijin thinks he'll make a good SeeD."

Seifer grunted. Jamie stared back at him.

"Are you ... angry at him for having found out about both you and Rinoa?"

Seifer smirked. "Me and Rinoa? We were just a one-night thing," he shrugged, trying to seem indifferent about the whole situation.

"Really ..." Jamie stared back at the horizon.

"What - don't believe me?"

Jamie looked down at her black sneakers. "No ... I guess it's just I choose not to."

He raised an eyebrow and mocked her. "Really ..."

Jamie looked back at him with a frown on her face. "Seifer, I'm serious."

He shrugged again. "I know, so am I."

They both stared off into the distance. All was quiet between them before Jamie sighed again; this time, in relief. "Well, I think this is the most we've talked ever since ... everything."

Seifer privately agreed with her.

--

Zell looked between both Alex and Quistis, daring not to speak. Just what the hell was going on?

Quistis rose up from her seat. "Alex, I-I didn't realize our date was so soon -"

_What?! _Zell screamed internally. _What does she mean, "our date"?_

"I know, but -"

_So, this is it ... _He looked back up at Alex. _This is the guy who she's been looking for all her life; her 'Mr-Right', 'Mr.Perfect', Mr.Goddamn' -_

"Zell?" She called, concerned. "Are you okay?"

_No!_

Nodding his head, he smiled unconvincingly. "Yeah, I'm - yeah ..." He looked back at Alex, his rival; the man who had stolen Quistis's heart ...

Alex, not liking the look Zell was giving him, turned back to Quistis. "I'm sorry, I thought that ... you weren't busy ..." he finished, somewhat weakly. But Quistis wasn't listening. She stared at Zell, afraid to see what emotions he would show.

But, Zell didn't want to make an embarassment of himself and, instead, opted to go for the next option. He walked swiftly out the classroom, budging Alex slightly as he did so, and made his way to somewhere he'd be able to get his head straight and vent out all his frustrations. The TC.

Quistis, meanwhile, continued to stare at the spot Zell had been standing, before he had rushed out. And now, for the first time, she was at a crossroads.

She didn't know what to do.

--

She watched as he started the engine again and it chugged lifelessly for a while before going back to its prone state. Rinoa leant her head back and turned to Squall.

"You know," she giggled, "you look really cute when you're flustered."

Squall looked back at her, as if he was wondering why she'd be thinking about that, of all things. "... Can you just help me?"

With a shrug, Rinoa reached her arm towards where the car key rested, she turned it clockwise and waited for the engine to start. However, only a few chugs were heard before it stopped and Rinoa looked back at Squall, grimacing uselessly.

"Heheh ... looks like we'll have to walk ...?" She suggested sheepishly. But, all she got was another glare from Squall. With a sigh, she shook her head slowly, cursing her luck. However, Squall's voice awoke her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, looks like we'll have to walk."

With a small smile at him, Rinoa exited the vehicle, seconds before Squall did, and moved to the back of the automobile. With a grunt, she heaved as she attempted to push the car; trying her best - but struggling - to move it, Squall beside her attempting to do the same.

"Well ..." She puffed, "we know we'll be in for a rough weekend ..."

Squall uttered quietly. "Hyne just **has **to be nice to me ..."

--

A/N: Okay, I've updated now (undeniable proof that I'm not dead, ya know ...) So, do what you guys normally do: R&R, please!

BTW, I didn't add any 'The Next Chapter' stuff, because ... I truthfully don't have any ideas (some vague ones, but that's it) Soooo ... if you could be as so kind to drop me a review with your ideas/suggestions, I'll be happy!

Ash XX


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I only own Jamaila, Gabby and anything else you don't recognise.

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Selphie was thankful for the narrow escape. After the woman attempted to pester the two until she got a satisfactory answer, the brunette decided to point out that two junior class-men were planning to hide out at the restricted area for a bet. Upon glimpsing them, Selphie was wondering whether or not those two boys were the ones that had been tampering with the wires, that day at the party.

'I'm sure they were wearing the same T-shirts …'

However, due to the importance of their current situation, she allowed the thought of those boys to disappear.

"So, what d'ya think we should do?" Irvine asked her, who honestly couldn't think of much but to take the still figure, in his arms, to the Infirmary.

Then again, they'd have to be the subject to more questions and may also be the victims of a classic 'Kadowaki-scolding'.

"Well, we could go to the Infirmary …" She said, speaking her thoughts out aloud.

Irvine looked slightly alarmed. And rightly so, thought Selphie, as he must have been having thoughts about the lecture they might receive from the elderly doctor. "Well, I wouldn't say -"

"But, she'll know the most about healing her, right? And," Selphie persisted, "it wouldn't draw too much attention if she laid in one of the hospital beds, right?"

Irvine shook his head helplessly. "Selphie … she's dead."

Selphie felt her eyes start to sting; for what reason, she didn't know. It's not like she wanted to shed tears for the woman that lay in Irvine's arms, but must have nevertheless felt some sympathy for her. After all, the woman had simply been following orders, from the looks of it, and isn't that what Selphie and her friends were doing now: following orders from their mentor/father? The brunette looked down at the figure once more and found it hard to believe that she had adapted to a life of where killings were common and, most of the time, unnecessary. Most of the children who resided in Garden were stripped of their childhood.

Take Gabby, for example.

He was just a simple boy, living out on the streets of Balamb, when Jamie had found him. And to think, in a couple of years, he would become an expert on missionary and mercenary work.

"Um, Selphie?" Irvine questioned. "Should we go to Cid, then?"

"Huh? Oh," Selphie vaguely replied. "Yeah, that - that sounds like a good idea."

The two set off for Cid's office. Hopefully, he would know what to do with her.

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

The empty punches he sent to the air only swished plainly and increased the hollow sensation he felt somewhere near his mid-riff.

Why did he have to be so stupid for? He had always been teased by Seifer, and some of the other Instructors had also noted on it: the fact that he usually thought with his head and not his heart.

So why, then, did he decide to tell Quistis that he really liked her when there was a big chance that she was: a) either not available, or b) already going out with someone?

Although, Scenario B) had a lot of implications in itself. This was Quistis, the woman that was more into her job and helping out her friends. She had never had time for romantic endeavours, or so he understood of her. So, why was she currently on a date with some damn worker from another country, someone whom she was planning to waste her weekend with. Zell's fists clenched more painfully and his punches became swifter.

Just as he was about to go onto practicing his kicks, he heard a voice behind him.

"So, there you are."

Zell's first thought was that maybe, somehow, Selphie had gotten a voice adjustment or something. However, as he turned back, he recognised Xu, one of the top SeeDs of Garden and apparently one of Quistis's close friends.

Zell frowned. "Um, hey … what're you doing here?"

Xu nodded at him. "I could ask you the same question."

He waved a hand airily. "Oh, you know, just training," he made to turn back, when -

"So, what was up with you and Quistis?" Zell stopped his first air-punch. Wow, she didn't miss a beat, did she?

"Oh, uh, nothing. Why'd you ask?" Zell asked, before snapping his fist on air.

"Well, I saw you stalk out of her classroom with an expression that meant murder." Then, almost as an afterthought, "You didn't kill anyone, did you?"

Zell shook his head, his spikes waving from side to side. "No, I didn't. Actually, I came here to practice with some fiends, but decided to practice by myself. Allows more thinking time, you know."

"Oh, so you were thinking of something - What about?"

Zell cursed silently. Him and his big mouth …

"Oh, nothing important."

Xu's gaze could have been X-raying him. "Tell me, Zell."

Zell sighed. Well, better telling her than risk getting demoted a SeeD rank. "Well, it's … that guy that's -"

"- Going out with Quistis?" Xu finished. "Yeah, I don't like him much, either. I can't believe that Tilmitt and that Heartilly set those two up," she shook her head disbelievingly.

'Actually, I can't believe that Quistis is playing along with it.' Zell thought sourly but, nevertheless, he felt slightly better than before. So, Quistis had not chosen him for his looks or his wisdom … he had simply been thrust upon her by her two friends.

He seriously needed to have a word with them.

His external expression must have brightened up somewhat, for Xu then commented, "Going to take a chance now?"

Zell felt a blush creep onto his cheeks and he shook his head vigorously. "No way! She's my friend, that's all!"

Xu raised an eyebrow. "Right … well, good luck," she smiled; something that didn't exactly comfort Zell, and moved back towards the exit.

He frowned after her. Was he _that_ predictable?

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

The buzz that was circling most of Balamb seemed to have bounced off two people who, despite walking together, were not sharing many words together. Their minds were preoccupied with various thoughts and they either didn't know how to, or simply didn't want to, express their emotions out loud.

Jamie scraped her shoe on the ground; whether out of irritation or boredom, her partner didn't know. She was glad that they had not quarrelled on the way here, but felt slightly helpless as Seifer simply stared around at his surroundings, acting as if he was paying her no mind. She seriously wanted to break the silence but, at the same time, she didn't want to risk it; he might be thinking about something that would encourage him to become enraged.

And she _really_ didn't want to deal with his temper right now.

But, as if he was also as unnerved as she was, Seifer gestured into a café. "Let's go in here. It'll give us time to talk", he added just when she was about to interrupt.

Not wanting to get on his bad side, the brunette simply shrugged in compliance and entered the building.

The interior of the café was very welcoming: there were a number of round wooden tables assorted around the room, with matching wooden chairs; the white walls were plastered with frames of portraits and photographs, of various people and landscapes and the white ceiling was filled with tiny spotlights and fans, in case of humidity. In short, it looked quite comfy.

Jamie just hoped that the clientele were cordial.

With something less of his normal strut, Seifer made his way to one of the closer tables, with his brunette companion trailing behind him. As they both sat down, Jamie looked around at most of the customers already seated around the other tables. With an unfamiliar feeling boiling at the pit of her stomach, she realized that most of them were couples: whether old or young, it didn't matter, but most of them were lovingly gazing into each other's eyes or clasping their loved one's hands inside their own.

'Some time to come in here …' She thought to herself, but savoured the fact that when Seifer and her become a couple, then there wouldn't be any of this 'lovey-dovey' stuff: like holding hands or kissing in public.

Wait - _when _they become a couple?!

'Hyne.' Jamie frowned at the thought, 'the amorous air must be contagious, which is causing me to have these kind of thoughts …'

She stared back at Seifer, who was having some sort of conversation with an attendant. Sure, he had the blue-green eyes that would cause any woman to become hypnotized by them and the golden locks that all females would kill to touch, but he … wasn't really her type. After all, she knew how he was on the inside: stubborn, arrogant and driven to succeed in life, regardless of the consequences.

'And where did that get him?' She thought darkly. 'To a black hole filled with -'

"Hey Kramer! What're you having?" Seifer's voice, and fingers, arose her from her thoughts.

"I - uh …" She looked between the amused Seifer to the slightly befuddled waiter. "I'll have a coffee, please."

The waiter bowed cordially before making his way to the counter. Jamie had not exactly repossessed her calm composure when Seifer leaned forwards slightly, in his seat, and gave her a questioning look.

"So, what were you thinking about?"

'If you knew, you'd never let me live it down,' the brunette thought to herself; the only thing to do now was to convince him that it was of no importance. So she rearranged her expression into one of unconvincing airiness and waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, nothing much."

Seifer's right eyebrow rose.

Jamie, now trying to persuade herself as much as him, persisted. "It's true! It's nothing!"

Seifer leaned back on his chair, his expression still scrutinizing, and folded his arms across his chest. "Sure, alright."

Jamie looked down at her hands, whilst trying to ease the sudden pounding in her chest. "So, um …" She looked back up at Seifer. "Why'd we come here?"

It was Seifer's turn to act casual. With a shrug, he made to inspect the café. "Oh, well, it's a nice place, you know; calm atmosphere."

Predictably, Jamie raised her eyebrows. "Uh-huh …"

Seifer's mouth began forming a grin. "No, really, I think it's nice."

Jamie then imitated his position, and folded her arms across her chest. "Really …"

Seifer stared straight at her, his grin fading, and Jamie felt her smile similarly slide away. That look of his either meant one of two things: he was going to explain something to her or he was having a flashback.

Whichever option it was, however, she would have to make sure that her ears were fully functional.

'Oh boy …'

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

After exiting the rented blue car, the couple made their way out of the parking lot. Squall was pleased about their date; the dinner was pleasant, the conversations were satisfying and the service was good.

And he shared all this with the woman of his dreams.

A slight chattering of the teeth alerted his attention to her and, when he looked at her, he realised that she was shivering from the cold. Not hesitating, he stripped himself of his dress jacket and handed it to her in a heartbeat.

Her chocolate-brown eyes widened a fraction before she shook her head lightly. "No, d-don't worry. I-I'm fine."

"You're not, Rinoa. You're shivering. And your teeth are chattering."

Still, Rinoa shook her head. "It's o-okay. Really."

He sighed internally. 'Time to play the 'Commander' card …' His eyes then hardened slightly and his tone imposed. "Rinoa. Take it. Now."

Rinoa sighed; whether from capitulation or frustration, it was hard to tell. "Alright, alright."

She took the dress jacket from his hands and placed it around her. Relieved that her stubborn streak had not gotten in the way, Squall placed his hands in his pockets to protect them from the harsh breeze blowing. The sky had already begun to darken and, as he looked up, he glimpsed a couple of stars winking down at him.

Reminded irresistibly of the first time they met, he was just about to inform Rinoa of that, when she cut in.

"I'll need to see the Doctor in the Infirmary later."

'What?!' Squall's mind screamed. Was there something wrong with her that he had failed to notice? Or (he really felt anxious then) what if it was something so bad that they would be forced to be torn apart?

'No,' he fought his feelings of trepidation, 'I vowed that I would protect her; that'd I'd be her Knight, no matter what.'

"Squall, are - are you alright?"

The brunet blinked and looked at Rinoa, who was staring at him worriedly. He smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, I'm - I'm okay. But …" He hesitated slightly, unsure of how to word his concern without sounding too troubled.

He didn't want it to rub off on her.

"Actually, I -" He glimpsed Rinoa's expression, "What's so funny?"

Rinoa chose that moment to cease stifling her giggles. "W - Well, you - you looked so - funny, hahaha, concentrating like that and I -" Her giggles took over.

Squall frowned disapprovingly at her. "Look, I'm concerned for you health, okay? That's why I was thinking so much. So, why do you need to go down to the Infirmary?"

He was thankful that his question stopped her giggles from pouring out and continued to watch her as she gestured to her nose.

"Because of this."

Even now, he felt slightly bitter towards Jamie, despite the fact that the two were comrades (he still had a small difficulty adjusting to the word 'friend') who resided in the same establishment. And, he also knew about the slight 'feud' between the two females. The only thing he didn't know, however, was the reason of their disagreements.

"Would you … like me to talk to her?" He asked.

Rinoa halted in her tracks and shook her head. "No, no, no. I don't want any more trouble to be caused by this."

He frowned again. "But, Rin -"

"Really," she shook her head and placed an angelic smile on her face, "I'll be fine, Squall."

Nevertheless, as Squall walked beside her, he prepared himself for the worst.

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Seifer, for the first time in his life, was at a loss for words.

How the hell was he going to explain all the flashbacks and nightmares he had to endure every night? The memories of the Sorceress War ate at him inside, but he still kept his cool. His entire being was flooded with guilt at all the crimes and atrocities he had committed, but he tried to convince people that it didn't affect him.

But now, when he had to justify himself to his close friend, he just couldn't compose himself accordingly. Almost absent-mindedly, he fiddled with the napkin laid out in front of him; first folding it lightly, then attempting to scrunch it up into a ball, and then decided that even that didn't calm down his nerves ('Wait, why the fuck am I nervous for?') and threw it back on the table.

After all that, he looked back up at Jamie with a sigh. She simply stared back at him helplessly.

'Great, she probably thinks I'm crazy. Heh, not that she'd be the first …'

Seifer swallowed a lump in his throat before starting. "Well, firstly, you're the only one I've told this too, so I'd advise you not to go telling anybody else." He waited for Jamie's nod of affirmation before continuing.

"This Sorceress shit … It's eating my brain alive. I dunno, I just … Fuck, look, this whole thing is hard to explain, you kno -"

"Don't worry," Jamie said, shaking her head. "I'll wait."

Seifer thanked her patience and the gods for that before using all his self-constraint to muster up the courage to tell her. Everything.

He leaned forward a little. "Ultimecia … She's crazy, man," he whispered, just loud enough for Jamie to hear every word. "Even now, I have dreams about the War: about Ultimecia, about the killings, and the little kids …" His hand clenched convulsively on his lap and he willed for the images to stop playing in his mind. Thankfully, he didn't lose too much control as to lose track of what he was explaining.

"I don't know what the hell is going on inside my brain, but this guilt thing, I …" He sighed. "I hate it."

Just then, he felt a pressure on top of his hand and, after looking down at it, realized that Jamie had enclosed his hand with hers. He embraced her soothing touch for a couple of seconds but then he felt the pressure of her hand build. Quickly looking back at her, he saw her stare at him.

At the sight of his eyes on her, however, she smiled at him.

Hesitantly, he placed a small smile on his face. Nevertheless, the pressure of her hand was still building and he wanted to tell her to stop it but, at the same time, he didn't want to admit his weakness. It was as if another hand (an invisible and heavier one) had clamped down on both of their adjoined hands and was preventing him from moving away. He was about to open his mouth as he moved his head to face Jamie …

… And found Ultimecia staring back at him.

With a loud gasp, he finally forced his hand out of hers and almost toppled backwards. Still moving back, his expression of sheer horror, he pointed straight at her. "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

Jamie's eyebrows creased together at the sudden shift in Seifer's self-control. Many of the occupants were also staring at the two, evidently unsure of what had happened. The blond, though, only saw Ultimecia smiling benignly up at him. Seifer's heart rate began to speed up and he felt like running away from her. His legs, on the other hand, had different plans.

"No - stay away from me!" He yelled, as Ultimecia made to get up. His pupils diluted as he continued to stare at her, his chest heaving: hadn't she already been taken care of? Or was she perhaps just his imagination; a hologram caused by the bad memories that he had locked up inside of him?

And, just as he thought this, he saw his vision blur, before coming back to the familiar setting of the café: Jamie standing up, and the other customers staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and doubt.

His heart rate easing slightly, he ignored Jamie's "Seifer?" and walked out and pushed the door open. The severe cold air hit him and he automatically placed his hands in his jean pockets. However, his thoughts were far from the unkind weather.

Just what had caused him to go mad in there?

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Quistis felt apprehensive at the sight of him. And, the main thing was that she had a good idea of what was causing her unease.

The blonde had simply been planning to retire to her dorm room, after strolling through most of Balamb with Alex. It had not exactly been romantic; the cold weather and the feeling in her stomach that hadn't gone away had seen to that. Nevertheless, in a calm sort of sense, she had enjoyed it: after all, it had taken her mind off marking papers and teaching students for most of the day; something that she was sure both Selphie and Rinoa would have been proud of, as they thought her too 'hard-working' for their (and, apparently, her) own good.

But now, as she caught Zell standing in front of her, she instantly stopped in her tracks, with no idea of what to do anymore. Did she want to talk to him, to sort things out after his abrupt departure? The honest answer was 'yes', but … she didn't know where to start.

'I don't even want to be the person to start', she thought to herself and waited for him to say something first, because her brain was currently in limbo.

After a couple of seconds (which felt like minutes), he made his way towards her so that there was a small gap in between the two. Still waiting, half-anticipating what he was going to say, Quistis was about to breath out a greeting, when Zell waved a hand and said "Hey" with as much casualty as he could muster.

With a small smile, Quistis nodded her head in reply.

Plainly looking for something to ease the anxiety that hung around them, Zell asked her, "So … where you heading to?"

This was, obviously, not the question that she had expected to hear from him.

They were both standing a short distance away from the dorms which would have easily given Zell the answer to his own question. Scuffing his feet on the carpet, possibly to lessen his embarrassment, he grinned sheepishly.

"I … uh –" he stuttered.

"I was just going to my dorm. Catch some rest," she replied, to which he looked up at her; slightly relieved that she had not remarked at him for his dim question, something he knew most of the others may have done.

"Oh, well, uh … how was your date?" As the word 'date' escaped his lips, Quistis looked away from him for a moment. Even now, she still hated the term. Catching this, Zell asked, "Uh, Quistis? It didn't go well?"

Quistis moved her vision back towards him. How observant of him …

"No, it – it went fine, I just …" Quistis feigned a yawn. "I'm just tired, that's all."

Zell raised his right hand in farewell. "Well, if that's the case, I guess I better leave, then. See ya!" And with that, he walked away towards the Cafeteria.

And still Quistis could not gather the courage to tell him the words that he was surely yearning to hear from her.

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Author's Note: Sorry about the late update! But, I hope this will suffice for y'all. And I hope you all enjoyed Xmas and may 2009 bring you guys good fortune – Oh, I'm no good at poetry …

Enjoy your holidays, everyone! (That is, if you've still got them …)

Ash XX


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**: I only own Jamaila and Gabriel, as well as any OCs used in this chapter. The rest belongs to Squaresoft/Square-Enix.

- x – x – x – x – x –

"_Reflect on your childhood..."_

_**Flash. **__Nine figures sat around a table, all smiles and laughter etched on their faces. It was Cid's birthday and they had all just surprised him with their pancakes: they all knew that Cid loved pancakes._

_It had been Matron's idea for all of them to cook pancakes and they had, all their pancakes lay in front of Cid, who had had difficulty choosing the one to eat first amidst the shouts of "My one! My one!" "No way, mine's much better!" "Hey, Cid, don't choose Zell's!" _

_He inhaled once more before hovering his hand above the pancakes, clearly unable to pick one just yet …_

"_Your sensation..."_

_**Flash. **__Her head snapped back as she felt the man's hand tear at the tendrils of her hair. Gritting her teeth, she slowly opened the palm of her right hand, and sharply inhaled as the ball of Blizzard coursed through her veins and shot towards her assailant, who flew back with a grunt. _

_Finally escaped from his hold (although the pain in her head hadn't stopped), she Cast another Blizzard at him and watched as the ice pierced his skin and his eyes stared back at her, lifeless … _

"_Your words..."_

_**Flash. **__Cid lowered his head. "Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do."_

_Jamaila's head shot right back up. "What?! Father, do you realize what has happened?! Mother –"_

"_She is not your mother. She is Ultimecia, a woman –"_

"_- who's possessing my mother, who's using her body for evil!" She jumped out of her seat, outraged. "For Hyne's sake, Dad, why did you go through with it?!"_

_Cid was momentarily confused. "Go through with what, Jamaila?"_

_She took a deep breath in, before exhaling slowly and continuing, "Why did you have to go ahead with Garden's construction? You built a stronghold where you could train soldiers to fight Sorceresses, when you knew perfectly well that Mother was one, too!"_

_Doctor Kadowaki entered the Infirmary at that moment, planning to stop an argument that she knew was going to come …_

"_Your emotions..."_

_**Flash. **__She stared around aimlessly, absorbing the sight of the frantically running cadets with her eyes and desperately wishing for the dispatched SeeD groups to return. Damnit, why did her friends have to go missing now?_

_Ignoring the cadets' shouts and cries, she began to sprint towards the Directory, hoping that there was someone there who was willing to stop the needless fighting. _

_One of the Garden Faculty members was waiting there and, beneath his hat, Jamaila saw his beady eyes narrow. Clenching her fists, she allowed her emotions to overtake her …_

"_Time..."_

_**Tick … Tock …**_

_She was standing in a flower field. It took her a couple of seconds to recognize it – the flower field from the orphanage, her old home. Admiring the flowers blossoming from beneath her feet, Jamaila knelt down to take a closer look at them._

_They were of various shades of colors and, almost out of habit, Jamaila picked one out and raised it up, admiring its beauty and simplicity. The weather was beautiful, the sky tranquil, and Jamaila found herself wondering if the garden had always been like this – mothering pretty little flowers as they grew from small, simple seeds. _

_Unlike the Garden that trained potential SeeDs to follow rules and kill any who opposed them (namely the Sorceresses), Jamaila knew that they would blossom. _

"_It will not wait..."_

_**Scuff … Scuff …**_

_Jamaila's ears were first alerted to the noise, and as she raised herself up, she found her mother staring back at her, wearing a black silk dress, with her hair cascading down her back behind her. _

_Jamaila allowed herself to smile at the sight of her and, after a little while, Edea did the same …_

"_No matter..."_

_**Whoosh … Whoosh …**_

_The wind began to blow and Edea's hair began to fly around wildly and her eyes stared straight ahead, as if she could not comprehend what she was looking at. Jamaila looked straight behind her, but found only empty air. Whatever was scaring Edea was obviously not showing itself._

_Then, just as sudden, a blue watery veil engulfed her figure and Jamaila tried to (but couldn't) scream out to her. However, the veil was removed and Edea still stood there, but was attired in her 'Sorceress' garb; her eyes looking more hollow than Jamaila had ever seen them. Edea raised a long-fingered hand towards her and, at once, her body stood shock-still of its own accord. _

"_How hard you hold on…"_

_**Swoosh … Swoosh …**_

_The 'Dream' Edea's hand beckoned her forward and Jamaila's body obeyed; she floated straight towards her mother and when she gained control of her body, she closed her eyes and placed both her arms in front of her, waiting for the crash –_

_- Instead, it did not come. She felt tight fabric, which helped emphasize the figure's form – from that alone, she knew it was a man. Tentatively opening her eyes, she turned towards the jade-green eyes that greeted her. _

_As a gesture of affection, Seifer placed a few strands of hair behind her ear and smiled at her. The show of emotion illuminated his face so much, that Jamaila couldn't help but smile back. _

"_It escapes you..."_

_**Fithos … Lusec …**_

_She heard a rumble of thunder and looked up at the viciously dark sky, dimly registering Seifer's arms losing their hold on her. By the time she looked back towards him, he had gone. _

"_And..."_

_**Wecos … Vinosec …**_

_She suddenly felt wet and looked back up at the night sky. Raindrops began to crash down on her, and the cold hit her fiercely; her hair was soaked and she ran a hand back to remove the wet strands from her face. She heard another rumble of thunder and, at the same time, felt a presence behind her. Looking back, she caught sight of a figure: concealed by the dark, it was hard to make it out …_

"_...I can't disappear yet..."_

_**Clap …**_

_More thunder sounded and due to the light created, she could decipher her appearance slightly. It was a woman, clad in a black dress similar to Edea's, and her wet hair clung to her, giving her the appearance of a drowned woman. The rain was now rapidly descending and as Jamaila moved forward, towards the older woman, she extended an arm out. The woman, however, didn't move – she stood rigidly straight and didn't even shiver from the cold. _

_However, as Jamaila moved towards the unknown figure, she thought she could make out the face. Her eyes looked hauntingly familiar, as if she had visited the brunette's dreams often. Maybe she had, Jamaila thought, in her many disguises. She took another step forward, and another thunderclap was heard. _

_She gasped. _

_There was something on the woman's face, something trickling down her cheeks. At first glance, she had thought it had been tears, but now she knew. _

_That woman … was bleeding … _

_**Bang!**_

Jamaila gasped and her eyes burst open. Trying to ease her heartbeat, she waited there in the dark and contemplated the dream. They had never been _that _bad before, despite the fact that the mysterious lady at the end was always in them. For a moment there, she had felt as if she was drowning, her breathes coming out in sudden spasms and her body feeling soaked by a combination of vivid imagery and humidity. She pushed herself up into a seated position and took a glance at the oblivious Gabriel: she was glad that he had not woken up, for she would have found it increasingly difficult to explain what was troubling her.

With a sigh, she lifted herself off the bed and made for the bathroom, intending to wash her dream away.

- x – x – x – x – x –

Following his morning routine, Zell usually got himself revitalized by doing 100 push-ups preceded by 100 sit-ups.

Today, predictably, was no exception.

He sat himself into a kneeling position before lifting himself with his hands and started on his exercise.

It had been like this every day, the meticulous activity only satisfying him when his muscles hurt at the end of it, for it was then that he knew that it was a job well done. Although, more than most of the time, he had wanted to do things _differently _– break out of the same routine that had been instilled into his mind since childhood. Even now, he felt as if he had exhausted himself, like a T-Rexaur zapped off its entire HP, and the only way for him to satisfy his self-importance was to keep himself fit and healthy.

Well, he was doing _that _right.

With a relieving sigh escaping his lips, Zell sprung back up and, after jumping from foot-to-foot on the spot, he jogged out of his dorm room. Seeing nothing but closed white doors, the jog didn't make much of an interesting pastime; it was only after Zell had entered the 1F circular hallway that he had found something to gawk at for a couple of seconds.

'_Irvine, up at __**this **__hour? Huh … and here I always thought Kinneas was the slacker of the group …'_

He had stopped just short of one of the benches that leaned against the fountain located in the middle of the hallway, when Irvine raised his head to look at the blond.

With a worn-out smile, the Galbadian raised his hand in greeting. "Hey, Dincht, how's it goin'?"

Zell frowned slightly. "Hey – uh – how come you're up so early? Did Cid call you for a briefing?"

Irvine looked away briefly and his shoulders formed something that remotely resembled a shrug. "Yeah, yeah, somethin' like that. Well, I was told t'meet with Cid, anyways, so that's where I'm headed now. Did he call you along, too?"

Zell waved a hand, as if he had just swatted a massive Bite Bug. "Nah, I just thought I'd jog around the hallway. I was getting kinda restless sitting in my room."

Irvine nodded. "Well, I guess we'd better take our leave, then: places to go, people to meet."

Zell saluted him, a bold grin plastered on his face. "Good luck, SeeD Kinneas. May the GFs be with you."

Irvine smiled before rolling his eyes. "Yeah, _thanks, _Dincht."

Zell watched him walk off and his arm fell back to his side. Jumping from foot-to-foot, he began jogging again: another pastime of his that seemed unlikely to change.

- x – x – x – x – x –

It was not common for Seifer to usually smoke in the mornings, but his mind had been occupied with Sorceresses and bodies and the odour of death … and there had been so much _blood _…

Seifer cringed. It was enough to allow those visions to invade his mind in the dark, but to think about it now …

'_Do what the others did – put the past behind you_.'

A couple of seconds later, he scoffed.

'_Sure, how easy is it to forget about the fact that I betrayed my home, joined a crazy witch and almost helped her take over the world_?'

His fingers itched for a cigarette, and he found himself nearing the 2nd floor balcony. Unfortunately, his dorm room didn't allow for much smoking (i.e. none at all) and, hell, the balcony view was more attractive anyway.

After typing in the pass-code (one of the things he had luckily committed to memory) on the door's keypad, the sliding door opened with a hiss and he entered.

He was right about the view – it _was _nice. With a sigh, he made his way toward the railing and extracted a pack of Marlboros from his jean pocket. It was only a matter of seconds before he lit his cigarette with a Fire spell and took a drag. Hyne, it felt comforting, knowing that he was doing something that would piss more than a few cadets off; Magic was prohibited within Garden, as well as smoking.

'_Well_,' he sighed as he took another drag of his cigarette, '_it's not like anyone's here …'_

It was only when a movement to the left caught his eye that he noticed a figure reclining against the balcony wall, face obscured by a book.

But, that hair colour, he'd recognize anywhere …

He looked back towards the view, and took a drag of his cigarette before exhaling. "Never knew you liked to revise here."

Rinoa lowered the book so that she could see Seifer better. Her hair was in a braid, which was placed to the side, but a few strands of hair still managed to find its way towards her face. She swatted a strand of hair away from her eye before answering, "Well, there was nowhere else to go?"

"The Quad?"

"Apparently, the Garden Festival Committee have a meeting there."

"Leonhart's dorm?"

Rinoa shook her head. "I can't … concentrate there."

Seifer smirked. "Don't tell me – he snores?"

Rinoa frowned. "No, it's because of Angelo."

At the mention of Angelo, Seifer narrowed his eyes and looked towards the horizon. "Oh, the dog."

Rinoa stared at him for a while, whilst he continued to stare off into the distance.

He had never liked that fucking mutt, even when he and Rinoa had been dating. It seemed that Seifer and Angelo were always in tenterhooks about who deserved Rinoa more – the resolute Knight or the loyal companion.

It was, predictably, the mutt who had ended up with the Princess's heart.

Rinoa turned a page of 'SeeD Regulations: What You Need To Know' before asking, "Aren't you supposed to be revising too?"

Seifer shrugged. "I'm not taking the test yet."

Rinoa looked up from her book. "Oh? So when _will _you take it?"

Seifer shrugged again, his non-verbal way of saying 'Whenever I feel like it.'

A silence stretched between them, in which Seifer found himself looking at Rinoa as she continued to read. It was … interesting to discover that she was planning to become a SeeD, something that she had disapproved of when she had been his girlfriend. It would be hard for her, though, to follow in something she had previously not believed in. And her training needed to improve too, if she was ever planning on making it that far.

His right arm rested on the railing as his left arm held his cigarette. "You know, you could get Leonhart to help you with your revision."

Rinoa sighed. "Well … I just don't want to bother him."

"I mean, wouldn't he have dreamt of this chance?" Seifer continued, without really listening to Rinoa. "Two SeeDs living in a big house, married and with a couple of kids?"

Rinoa dog-earred the page she had been reading before closing the red manual and setting it down. "Well … I'm not sure Squall and I will end up married."

Seifer looked back at her, his eyebrows raised. "You're kidding."

Rinoa fiddled with her necklace. "No, it's just …" She closed her eyes. "I'm not as innocent as Squall believes and I … don't want to cause him any problems." She opened her eyes and chocolate brown stared into jade green.

A pause was inserted, before Seifer looked to the clouds. "You know, if this is about me –"

"It's got nothing to do with you -" Rinoa persisted.

" – like me giving Squall the leftovers, is that it?"

Rinoa turned pink as she realized the implications of that statement. "No, really, Seifer, I don't think -"

Before Seifer could answer, he heard two voices mumbling behind the door before the door hissed open, which revealed both Jamie and Gabriel, who both stopped talking when they saw the pair at the balcony.

"Oh," Jamie muttered. A few silent seconds passed where she stared at Seifer, and he turned to stare at anything _but _her; he did not want to see any pity or guilt held in her gaze.

"Well, I, uh …" Rinoa had gotten up, with her book in hand. "I guess you guys want to talk, so -"

"It's fine." Seifer looked back at Rinoa, and wondered why she felt so awkward for. However, he wondered why …

' … _The hell did she come here for_?'

It was then that he noticed the kid, who had his hand encased in Jamie's. In a way, he felt slightly envious of the way that Gabriel could attract Jamie's attention so easily: something that he had yearned for so long ago; a helping hand.

Rinoa interrupted his thoughts from travelling any further. "Look, you obviously need to talk, so -"

"It's _fine_." This time, it was Jamie who interrupted her.

Seifer looked at Gabriel and registered something. "Hey – kid."

Gabriel looked away as Seifer addressed him, but the ex-Knight knew that the kid was listening.

"You're the one that told Jamie here about me and Rinoa, right?"

Jamie glared at him. "Seifer, this is neither the time _nor _the place."

Seifer managed to smirk. "Well, I've got time and this is a pretty nice place."

"I -"

"Jamie?" Gabriel grabbed her arm. "Can we go now?"

Jamie looked at him for a moment and Seifer felt pretty curious. Had she come here to spy on them? And, if so …

'_What a cheeky little minx_.'

Jamie glanced at Seifer, then Rinoa, and then Seifer again. "Right … let's go."

She moved back inside, with Gabriel in tow. Rinoa exhaled loudly and Seifer took a long drag of his cigarette. Eventually, the silence expired.

"What is _wrong _with you?!"

Seifer looked back at her and frowned. "What?"

"You could have tried to be _nice_," Rinoa said, before turning to him, hands on her hips. She looked so typically petulant there, that she seemed to look every part the spoilt brat she usually acted like.

'_Okay, she wants me to be nice to someone that had punched her Hyne-knows-how-long-ago … Hah …_'

Seifer's lips twitched upwards. "Rin, you don't know how weird you sound right now."

Rinoa blinked, partly due to the nickname he had used; it had been too long since he had called her by that name, as if she was still …

His little _princess_.

Rinoa placed her hands to her side and looked down. "Well, I …"

Seifer threw the cigarette over the balcony railing and moved to go back inside. "I have a favour to ask of you …"

Rinoa stared at him as he moved towards the door.

"Don't interfere."

And with that, he waited for the door to slide open, his steel boots echoing through the corridors.

No matter what, he would make sure that no-one ever saw the real side to him. No, that would just make him look _vulnerable_.

- x – x – x – x – x –

Squall had registered Rinoa's absence as soon as he'd risen from his sleep. Unfortunately for him, he was still lumbered with Angelo, who seemed to be enjoying scouting for antiques and decorations to break. He was lucky that the dog hadn't run off with Lionheart nestled between his teeth.

He had just logged into his e-mail account and was currently reading a message sent to him by Xu.

_**From: Ling, Xu; (**____**)**_

_**To: Leonhart, Squall; (**____**)**_

_**Subject: Transfer Students**_

_**Date Received: 30/04/'09, 08:45am**_

_**Commander,**_

_**Enlisted here are the names of the cadets transferred from both Trabia and Galbadia Gardens:**_

_**Trabian cadets: Ayer, Joanna; Courniers, Faz; Riarre, Jenny; Symonds, Jaycee**_

_**Galbadian cadets: Bennett, Ryder; Remin, Canto; Toshi, Meyamo; Veck, Liona**_

_**All records of transfer students have been received and filed copies are available in the Admissions Bureau, as well as the Headmaster's, Instructor's and Commander's offices. **__**If anything else is required, please let me know via e-mail.**_

_**Xu Ling, **__**Assistant Headmistress**_

It had taken Squall a while to reply, due to Angelo constantly pestering him. Even now, he felt as if he had grown up too fast – he hadn't even reached 20 yet and he was _already _doing paperwork. He was planning to retire early too …

'_Hynedammit, I __**hate **__this_.'

He had loved the practical aspects of SeeD, and the theory tests were fine as long as he revised for them.

No, it was the marking and filing that he'd never get used to.

Angelo came bounding in at that moment and almost pounced at Squall. He impatiently pushed the dog away, as he went to rise from his chair. He heard Angelo whine and, impatiently, he waved a hand, as if he was swatting a Bite Bug.

"Go. I've got work to do."

Truthfully, Squall would have been surprised if the dog _had _moved. She just sat there, wagging her tail, her tongue hanging between her teeth, as if Squall had just announced that he was going to treat her. Squall sighed, and tried again.

"Look. Rinoa's outside, go find her."

Angelo's response was a bark. Well, she either understood or was trying to tell the gunblade specialist something. Squall resisted the urge to face-palm.

'_Rinoa, where in Hyne's name __**are **__you_?'

He heard a noise from outside and, frowning, moved to open the door. For some reason, as soon as the door was slid open, Angelo bounded off outside and, due to her excitement, knocked over a cadet, who screamed and landed on her backside.

"Hyne, whose dog is that?!"

Squall sighed. '_Not mine_.'

He switched his attention from Angelo to the girl on the floor. With his right hand, he offered in helping her up, and after a few seconds, she placed her hand inside his. With a slight pull, he helped lift the blonde back on her feet and placed his hand back to his side, after releasing her hand. For some reason, the blonde looked disappointed.

However, she regained her composure and smiled at him. "Thanks _so _much, Commander!"

Squall shrugged. "It was nothing." Really, it wasn't. He had only helped her up …

"Well, I just came here to see you. I've always wanted to meet you, since the Second Sorceress War."

Squall frowned. Sometimes, he wasn't sure of what bothered him more; the visions he sometimes had or the fame that apparently came with defeating a Sorceress bent on world domination (both of which never seemed to leave him alone). He only hoped that this girl was not a rabid 'fan-girl' hoping to glomp him.

"Oh, uh, okay." He seriously needed to learn how to be modest.

In fact, he needed to learn how to _socialize_, period.

"Look, uh -" he started.

"Liona."

'_Veck. Liona Veck_.' Great, one of the new (not to mention, Galbadian) cadets wanted to meet him. Suffice to say, he was still distrustful of anyone who hailed from Galbadia; Martine and Vinzer Deling being the culprits.

"Okay, Liona, do you have your luggage unpacked?"

"Well, I started unpacking, but when I realized you were near, I thought I'd come pay you a visit." Liona flicked her hair over her shoulder dramatically and batted her mascara-coated eyelashes a couple of times.

In Squall's opinion, she was trying too hard.

He forced a smile onto his face, in hopes that it'd make her go away faster. "Well, you must have things to do, so …"

She clapped her hands together. "Right, you must be a busy man. So, I'll leave you to … whatever you're doing." She sighed and looked at her right hand, like a cadet who'd just obtained her first GF. "I am _never _going to wash this hand again."

Squall looked momentarily confused. "You know, you should -"

"Be going now! Bye!" She waved and walked off, her heels echoing as she made her way further down the corridor, her blonde ponytail swinging from side to side.

Squall's eyebrows creased together. Were _all_ his fans this … desperate?

- x – x – x – x – x –

Quistis had somehow managed to wake up later than usual (one of the reasons being that her alarm clock never went off) and had hastily partaken in her morning routine.

She had almost run out of her room and had realized that she had left her dorm key-card on her table. Rushing back, she grabbed it and made her way back out again; key-card and folder in hand.

Unfortunately for her, she had left today's notes beside her bed, as she had been reading over them last night.

She briskly walked towards her classroom, greeting Jamaila and Gabriel on the way, and set off to the elevator. Luckily, she had not met anyone else and stepped into the designated classroom, noticing as she did so that most of the occupants were either gossiping about trivial matters or throwing paper balls and planes at each other. One paper ball narrowly missed Quistis' head.

She closed her eyes and silently counted to ten. _I swear, if they aren't ready _–'

She felt a paper ball hit her forehead. For her, that was the thread that snapped.

"All right, that's enough!" she ordered, and was pleased to know that they complied. Opening her eyes, she caught sight of 15 shocked cadets, looking as if a T-Rexaur had just walked in.

'_Hyne, I'm not that bad … am I_?'

Clearing her throat, she proceeded to instruct her class. "Okay, let's start today's lesson." She moved behind her desk and placed her key-card in the drawer and her folder on the desk.

'_We've already gone through Iron Giants …' _Quistis thought to herself as she riled through her papers. _'So, that leaves the Marlboros and –_'

She suddenly paled. _'Oh, Hyne, no …'_

The blonde looked back at her cadets, who were muttering under their breath. _'Hyne, what a time to make a bad impression …'_

Clearing her throat to regain order, she started again. "Okay, I've decided to give you all a practical lesson." At their questioning frowns, she added, "We'll go to the Infirmary, where Doctor Kadowaki will give you an explanation on basic medical procedure."

The reaction was balanced; some students were satisfied with the fact that they would not have to copy out any boring notes, whereas the others felt that their so-called 'lecture' would be worse.

Quistis hoped that Doctor Kadowaki was not _too _busy. "Okay, um … you're dismissed."

All the cadets began talking loudly as they gathered their belongings and made their way to the 1st floor.

Quistis exhaled loudly. _'What am I going to do with myself?'_

- x – x – x – x – x –

The beautiful red airship grew larger as Irvine approached it. Due to Cid's request, Irvine was going to Esthar with Selphie, and both were to be escorted by a party from there, which included Kiros: the mission entailed delivering Hekora's body to Dr. Odine, who wanted to investigate the corpse for any signs of excessive magic consumption, something that had been common amongst the Centran residents.

Selphie had run off towards the airship first, in hopes of meeting her 'hero' and Irvine glimpsed her petite form stomping towards him, a cute little pout on her face.

"Um … somethin' wrong?" Irvine asked, and his eyes shifted to the inside of the Ragnarok. Maybe Nida had messed something up again …

Selphie stamped her foot, making her look menacingly cute. "I wanted to meet Sir Laguna!"

Irvine rolled his eyes. "Selphie, darlin', you'll be meetin' him soon enough." Really, was that something to _sulk _about?

Selphie followed Irvine into the Ragnarok. "Even so, I'd have liked to have seen him!"

Irvine shook his head as they made their way through the Boarding Ramp. "Selph, I just don't get what's so _special _about him."

Selphie's eyes instantly glazed, her hands clasped together and her mind possibly concocting fantasies about the 'White Knight'. "Well, he's amazing and funny and respectable and drool-worthy and –"

Irvine made a face. Hyne, imagine if Squall heard Selphie refer to his father as 'drool-worthy'.

He repressed a shiver.

Selphie's eyes were then focussed on Hekora's body, which was clothed in white and floating between two SeeD escorts. She looked back at Irvine, as Hekora and the SeeD pair entered made their way towards the Passenger Room, with her eyes wide.

"Do you … think she'll be okay?"

Irvine frowned. "What? Selphie, she's -"

"I know," she said and looked down. "But, I'd hate it if Odine experiments on her for no reason at all."

Irvine sighed. "I know, but … we were simply assigned as Cid's informants, nothing more. We shouldn't worry about it."

Selphie looked up at him, eyes pleading. "But, Irvy-!"

Irvine interrupted. "Come on, let's make our way to the Cockpit." Then, as if to shift her attention, he reminded her, "You'll be drivin', right?"

Selphie smiled, although with something less of her usual gusto. "Sure, let's go."

Irvine followed her towards the lift pad, his mind echoing Selphie's sentiments. _'This better not be for nothin'.'_

- x – x – x – x – x –

Since Seifer's departure, Rinoa had taken to revising in the library, which was crammed with quite a few other people, no doubt in the same situation as her.

It was odd, really, that she had to come back to revising in the library and studying notes after defeating (with the help of her friends) the most powerful Sorceress to date. Cid had (with regret) informed herself, Irvine and Seifer that he had tried to persuade the Garden Examination Board to allow the trio to automatically become SeeD, but they had hinted on how that would be 'unfair' and they would be 'playing favourites'.

She had privately thought that helping save the world would have automatically assigned them to the 'Fan Favourite' setting.

That is why she sat in the library and continued to read through the 'SeeD Regulations' manual. She was currently reviewing the basic Junction abilities when a tap on the back diverted her attention.

"Gotcha!" Zell grinned from his seated position, his arm slung around the back of his chair.

Rinoa smiled. "Oh, hey, Zell." It had been a while since she had hung out with most of her friends. At times, she felt like Squall: pushing her friends away despite the fact that they could help expel her insecurities. But times like these, where she could chat to her friends with no fear of what she was …

… That was the time that she savoured most.

Zell, still with the grin on his face, asked, "So, you wanna come battle some monsters down in the TC with me?"

Rinoa honestly wanted to say "yes", but her heart thought otherwise. "Sorry, Zell, but I've got to revise." She held up her book. "Big test tomorrow, you see."

Zell shrugged. "… Right, well – 'Course, I understand, but -"

Rinoa felt the need to apologize again. "I'm sorry, Zell."

Zell shrugged again and got up. "Nah, don't worry, Rin … I might find someone else to train with." Then, with a grin on his face, he raised a hand in farewell. "Later, Rin! And, good luck with the exam!" He shouted as he rushed off to Hyne-knew-where, much to the librarians' and occupants' displeasure.

Rinoa giggled to herself. _'Some things will never change.'_

- x – x – x – x – x –

Short on food supplies, Jamaila had decided to go to the Cafeteria along with Gabby, and both were currently engrossed in their thoughts and their food.

However, their thoughts inevitably came back to the same person.

Seifer was like an enigma: a puzzle that always had a piece or two missing. It had taken the brunette almost 15 years to understand him and today, she realized that he was still as unpredictable as ever.

The Second Sorceress War had obviously affected his behaviour and personality.

Jamaila thoughtfully took a bite of her toast. As much as she didn't understand Seifer, she also didn't understand her sudden … interest in him. Sure, they had been friends since childhood and, after everything he had been through, she felt this unexplainable sympathy for him within her. Not to mention, he was charming, cute and –

'_Cute?'_

She must have made a face, because Gabby placed a hand on his lap. "Jamie, what's the matter?"

Jamaila snapped out of her reverie and looked at him. "Oh, uh, nothing, Gab."

He smiled up at her. "If it's the food, then I understand."

She laughed. "No, Gabby, it's not the food." _'Trust me.'_

"Oh, okay." He then looked down at his porridge with mild distaste before he resumed eating. Jamaila did the same.

It was a blissful silence, until the smell of lavender overcame the brunette's senses and a familiar voice called out to her.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

She looked back and was face-to-face with her mother. Gabby turned his attention to her as well.

The dark-haired Sorceress smiled before taking a seat opposite her daughter. "Mind if I sit here?"

Jamaila shook her head, still not saying anything. It _had _been a while since the two had talked, mother and daughter. In a way, she felt uncomfortable, one of the reasons being that those same amber-tinted eyes had gazed at her with malice through the television screen.

Sometimes, she wondered if there was still some of **her **left inside her mother.

Edea smiled at Gabby. "And you must be … Gabriel, correct?"

Gabby was surprised that she knew his name, now wanting more than ever to find out how she and Jamie were related. Nevertheless, he nodded. "Um, yeah, that's right."

Edea continued to survey him through her eyes, until Jamaila swallowed a bite of toast and asked, "So, Mother, what brings you here?"

Gabby looked back at the brunette. It made sense now, they were both family, which obviously meant that –

"Well, I had actually decided to pay everyone a visit. It can get quite lonely in the orphanage, you see."

Jamaila noted the dullness in her eyes as she said this, but decided not to bring it up. Maybe she'd imagined it.

Edea smiled at her. "I'd never actually stopped by to see everyone, which is why I decided to come today." Her smile belied her yearning of company. "I miss you all."

Jamaila meekly smiled back at her mother. She felt guilt well up inside her at the fact that she had not _once _gone to see her mother after the Second Sorceress War. It was as if their bond had broken: unfixable, irreplaceable …

… unchangeable.

She looked down at her empty plate. "I'm sorry, Mother."

Edea looked startled. "No, dear, don't worry about it. I understand."

'_No, I don't think you do, Mother.' _Sometimes, Jamaila barely understood _herself_.

Edea's hands shook slightly on her lap. "It's _my_ fault, anyway."

Jamaila looked back at her mother and (to her astonishment) realized that her mother was crying. Instantly, she moved to her mother's side and reached for her hands, which were shaking like tremors.

"Mother, what's wrong?" she whispered, as she leaned in to inspect her mother's pretty face, which was unchanged with age. Her cheeks were glistened with tears and, hastily, she wiped them away.

Edea shuddered under the contact, but allowed her daughter to resume wiping away her tears, her voice intermingled with baby sobs. "Jamaila, I … I wish I could have … s-stopped her … then, none of this … none of this would have happened."

Jamaila knew that she was referring to the events leading up to the Second Sorceress War, which would have affected her more than anyone else. But, oersonally, the brunette felt that Edea would have been too powerless to stop someone like **her**.

_**The wicked tyrant.**_

_She saw Edea, wrapped in her black dress, addressing the nation. "- killed countless men and slaughtered many nations? She stands before your very eyes to –"_

Jamaila blinked back the memory. Her mother was here now, safe from Ultimecia's hands.

Edea looked down at her daughter, regarding her troubled expression. "I see her, too."

Jamaila's eyes snapped back up to stare at her mother. "What?"

Edea's eyes stared off, her thoughts far from the Cafeteria. Gabby stared at her with a mixture of awe and something akin to fear. "Ultimecia … I see her all of the time. It's like …" Her hands clenched on her dress, her sobs subsiding. "She's still _inside _me, waiting to come out one day, and -"

"No." Jamaila's hands wrapped around her mother's, as if she could erase the nightmarish visions from her mother's mind by the force of denial. At times, she wished she could.

Edea kept quiet, releasing a quiet sob every now and then. With a look to Gabby, Jamaila slowly eased her mother off the chair, who obeyed without question. As they moved past the blond, the brunette spoke over the shoulder to him.

"Stay here; I'll be right back, okay?"

She waited for Gabby's nod before making her way to the Infirmary, her mother's arm on her shoulders. She ignored the various looks she got from cadets and walked on towards her destination.

Doctor Kadowaki should have an idea of what to do in this situation because, frankly, Jamaila was lost.

- x – x – x – x – x –

It was only after Jamaila had left that Gabby felt extremely anxious here. She was, really, the only one he had depended on (although Raijin and Selphie were close contenders) and he still felt uncomfortable in this big place.

Catching sight of none of Jamie's friends, Gabby tucked into the remainder of his porridge.

"Well, well, well, fancy meeting _you _here."

The blond raised his head up and stared into a pair of familiar, narrowed, blue eyes.

- x – x – x – x – x –

Author's Note: Sorry about the update time! Gosh, Real Life has decided to show me no mercy so I usually have to sneak updates in between bouts of work!

Aaaaaaaaanywayyyyy … please Read & Review!

Ash XX


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